


Flashes of Cold

by flye



Series: Role Reversal AU [1]
Category: DCU, The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Still Have Powers, Alternative Universe - Literally nothing is as in canon, Angst, Attempt at Humor, Barry is a theif, Barry is not as good of a pick-pocket as he thinks he is, Enemies to Lovers, Flirting, Fluff, Graphic desriptions of accidental ass-fondling, Len is a detective at the CCPD, M/M, Meta!Len, Mutual Pining, Overuse of italics, Role Reversal, Slow Burn, The Author Is Not In Control Of The Story, The rogues have a bad sense of humor, almost, and the Central City hero, but still works as a CSI, letBarryGropeLen2k17, several times
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-18
Updated: 2017-08-17
Packaged: 2018-12-03 22:16:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 20,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11541519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flye/pseuds/flye
Summary: Barry Allen: hardworking and beloved CSI for the CCPD at daytime -- infamous super villain and thief at night.Leonard Snart: the very best the CCPD has to offer at daytime -- Central City's very own superhero at night.***Barry never meant to become a criminal. Honest. And hedefinetalydidn't mean to become Central City's finest CSI alongside his nightly identity -- The Scarlet Speedster (or The Flash, as he called himself), whose main hobbies included feeling down stock brokers and snitching gemstones for himself.What the public didn't know, was that they weren't, in fact, for himself but for his boss. His boss, who gave him his assignments to steal whatever it was that he wanted this time and when Barry had done it he'd get generously paid for the item.But keeping his identity from his friends and colleagues weren't easy, and his life seemed to become more and more likeHannah Montanathan he'd ever wanted for himself.And soon Len is dragged into Barry's mess, not only as Central City's hero -- Captain Cold -- but also as Barry's friend and colleague, and let's just say that he'snotpleased with Barry's lifestyle.





	1. It's the (worst) best of both worlds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which Barry marvels over his poor life choices.

The very minute that Barry opened his eyes this morning he had this weird feeling that something big was coming. He wasn't sure what it was, but he could feel it in the air. It was almost calm - _too_ calm. And didn't people always say something about the "calm before the storm"?

So as he, rather ungracefully, rolled out of his bed whilst trying to silence his painfully loud alarm clock, he couldn't help but to be worried. Not to mention be _tired_.

Exactly _how_ many hours had he slept tonight? Four? Probably less. But that's what happens when you lead a double life like this. Being both the Scarlet Speedster - Central City's infamous meta-thief - and a CSI for the CCPD was really draining his powers - literally.

He made one final glare towards his alarm clock to make sure that it stayed quiet and-

"Shit!" He shrieked, realizing exactly how late he was. "Shitshitshitshitshit-" Speeding into the shower to wash himself off from last night's muck and then into his work clothes - a plain white button down, jeans and a dark red cardigan - he zapped off towards the CCPD.

He stopped just outside the building, made sure that his hair wasn't windswept and flatted out his outfit before walking inside. He peeked around the room but didn't see the Captain anywhere. He sighed happily and quickly sneaked inside to make his way up to his lab without being seen. He had just sat his foot on the first footstep when-

"Allen! Get your ass in here!"

Barry sighed at the Captain's voice, taking his foot off of the first step and slouched his shoulders as he turned around to make his way to the captain's office. On his way there his eye caught the sight of another man.

Len.

Barry quickly collected himself. Back straight, flatted his shirt a bit and pulled a quick hand through his hair before shaking away his frown. Len was talking with another colleague, but kind of seemed like he wanted to be anywhere but there - looking at his wrist watch every other second as well as looking around the room every now and then.

And that's when he notices Barry and smiled. Barry got the best feeling in his chest, suddenly not worried about the fact that the Captain was probably _pissed_ at him.

Len turned back to the colleague he was chatting with and gestured vaguely as he said something Barry couldn't catch before walking over to him. "Morning, Barry." He smiled, and Barry couldn't help but to smile back.

"Is it? I hadn't noticed." Lies. His morning had become a good one the second his eyes met Len's blue ones.

Len just scoffed. "Yeah, well, the captain was looking for you - so I imagine it's not a good morning for you."

"Yeah, I'm on my way there now, so..." Barry scratched the back of his head as he said this, not wanting to leave Len to go see the Captain, but knowing he had to.

But Len smiled at him, in pity it seemed. "Yeah, you should probably go. I'll see you later."

"Yeah." Barry nodded, as Len turned his back with a wave and was gone. He slouched the very second Len's back was turned. Barry sighed before walking to Captain Singh's office, knocking on the glass door.

"You wanted to see me?" He said at the "Hmm?" from inside. 

"Ah yes, come on in, Allen." He heard Singh's voice reply and he opened the door.

The captain was reading some documents, frowning at them as he gestured a hand at Barry to sit down. Shit.

"So, uhhh... What is it that you wanted?" Barry asked after he sat down, trying his best to sound innocent as he peeked at the name of the file Singh was reading -- _The Scarlet Speedster_. Double shit.

The captain handed him the file. "What do you think about this?" He asked and Barry flipped through the pages of the file, trying desperately to seem casual. There wasn't much there, really. Some eyewitness accounts, a list of known crimes and some probable ones. Last known whereabouts, associates, etc... Mostly the file was filled with a whole lot of question marks. Along with the file came a blurry picture of the speedster, taken by a bystander a while back.

"About the Scarlet Speedster...?" Barry just asked, flipping another page in the thin file. The captain nodded. "I just can't seem to wrap my head around him."

"No?"

"No. He showed up last night again, you know? At the Central City Museum."

Barry feigned surprise as he raised a sarcastic eyebrow at the captain. "Yeah? What'd he take?"

The captain sighed. "That's just the thing: Nothing."

Another fake raised eyebrow. " _Nothing?_ "

"Nothing."

Barry closed the file and squirmed a bit before handing it back. "So... What's it got to do with me?" He asked.

"You may know that Detective Snart has been assigned the case of the Scarlet Speedster, yes?" Barry nodded at the captain's question. "Well, I want you to be the lead CSI on it."

Barry raised his eyebrows for real this time. "Lead... CSI?"

Singh nodded. "On this case, yes."

"What does that mean for me?"

"That whenever the Scarlet Speedster shows up, you and Snart will both have to be the first at the scene. That means a lot of middle-of-the-night calls to crime scenes. No waiting until the next morning with these, they're high priority."

Barry almost scoffed. "High priority? There have been no casualties, no one has ever even been hurt!"

The captain sighed. "No, but the media and public are all over this. We've started getting complaints about having not caught him yet."

"But he's a _meta-human_." Barry whined. "It's not that easy."

"I know, but the media seems to think we're being sloppy. The fact that Captain Cold can't seem to catch him, either, is somehow fueling them further."

"But Captain Cold has nothing to do with us." Barry counters. The thought of getting to spend more time with Len was compelling, but under these circumstances, it'd be better if he could _not_ have to be called to work in the middle of the night to work his own crime scenes moments after he was just there.

"They don't care. They think he is." The captain replied.

This was news to Barry. "Yeah? How so?"

The captain lowered his voice a little. "Now, this stays between us but some seems to think that Captain Cold might actually be a part of the force."

Barry feigned surprise again. "They think he works for the CCPD?!" But then he almost snickered - he already knew Len was Captain Cold, and Len even knew he knew.

The captain hummed as a reply. "Either way. You and Snart should talk things over, and there's some collected evidence waiting in your lab, as well. You can go now."

Barry made his way to his feet. "Yeah uhm, thanks, I guess." He said before he turned to leave, but just as he was about to close the door behind him the captain spoke again - looking up at Barry from behind another file.

"Oh, and Allen?" Barry stopped his movement to listen as the captain continued. "Don't think I didn't notice you were half an hour late this morning."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that it's short, but that's just the way I'm writing this story - little by little.


	2. Two boys chillin'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Barry and Len go on a (lunch)date.

"Hey, Len!" Barry said, successfully catching the other man's attention from where he was slouching over some old case file, coffee cup in hand.

"Huh?" Len said, glancing up at Barry. "What's up?"

"So..." Barry smiled, laughably happy to tell Len the news -- for some stupid reason. 

Len raised an eyebrow at him, a confused and somewhat playful smirk on his face. "So...?"

"Guess who just became the lead CSI on the Scarlet Speedster case?" Barry grinned in reply, and Len's eyebrows made a gallant run for his hairline (if he would've had one).

"I dunno, maybe Albert?" He smirked, taking a sip of his coffee.

Barry glared at the man, but couldn't help but to smile as well - it was almost impossible to be angry with Len. "No, dumbass, _me_ ".

"Yeah? I could never have guessed." Len just smiled, putting down his cup of coffee again. "So we're a team, then?"

Barry nodded with a grin. "Yup, looks like it."

Len sighed sarcastically. "Guess I'll just have to resign, then." He joked.

Barry was not amused. "Haha, very funny." He replied.

"Oh, I'm being serious. I despise you."

"Mhm. Guess I'll just have to go leak your little... _Secret_ to the whole of Central City, then."

Len laughed, and Barry's intestines made a little flip inside of his gut before settling down. "Alright then, Barry. You drive a hard bargain."

Barry huffed. "Scarlet Speedster who? _I'm_ your nemesis."

"Yeah, totally. The Scarlet Speedster has nothing on you." Len smiled before taking a look at his watch. "Hey, it's soon lunchtime. Mind going to that new Thai place with me?"

Barry almost fainted at the prospect, but he'd been to lunch with Len so many times before that he didn't let it show. "Sure, yeah, sounds like fun." He replied casually, like one friend to another. And not in the giddy schoolgirl crush-voice that he'd have used if he didn't contain himself.

Len nodded. "We could talk about the case, too."

Barry sighed internally. Of course... He didn't really know what he was expecting. Len was all business no pleasure, a more hard-working man didn't exist.

"Uh-huh." Barry just replied instead as Len stood up and grabbed his jacket to go.

***

"So Singh said that there are apparently rumors that Captain Cold works for the CCPD." Barry casually said to Len, taking another bite of his Kuay Tiew. Man, this restaurant was actually really good.

Len nearly choked on his bite of Pad Thai at that. Barry just sat and stared half-amused, half-worried at him as Len coughed and hit a fist to his chest before replying to Barry's comment. "Huh?! What-" Cough. "-makes them-" Another two coughs. "-think that?"

Barry raised an amused eyebrow at his ~~cru~~ _friend_. "He didn't say. But if I had to guess, maybe the fact that he seems to have knowledge of where a heist is currently being on-the-go. Plus the fact that he has access to the CCPD's building to drop off criminals, and-"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it." Len said, waving at Barry to stop as he cut him off. "I'm sloppy."

Barry smirked. "You mean _he's_ sloppy?"

"That too."

"Case and point." Barry smiled, taking another bite of his meal. "You know, this is actually really good. How's yours?"

Len looked at his food. "It's good. Not as good as the last Thai place - but definitely an adequate replacement."

"We should go here more often." Barry said, hoping like it didn't sound too desperate. Not like someone asking their crush out, but like a friend and colleague asked. Totally professional and not at all suspicious.

Len just nodded, not reading into Barry's suggestion. Was he blind or just deaf?

"Either way, how do we pay for this? Do we split or...?" Barry continued.

"Good try there, Barry, but I know yours was more expensive than mine." Len smirked at his friend. "We'll take it separately."

"Damn. Thought I could fool you this time."

Len chuckled. "Yeah, better luck next time."

"One of these days I'll get you to pay for my lunch, you know."

"Dream on, Barry. I only pay for my dates' lunch."

"I guess I'll just have to get you to take me on a date, then."

Barry was surprised to see something that was eerily similar to a very faint blush on Len's cheeks, but he quickly pushed the thought of it away.

"Yeah, good luck with that." Len smiled.

"Was that a challenge?" Barry raised an eyebrow playfully.

"I dunno, was it?"

"I think it was. Game on, old man."

"You're never gonna get a date like that."

"I only speak the truth."

"I'm 35, Barry. I'm not _old_."

"See! I already got your age, this is working great."

Len scoffed. "You already knew my age."

Barry shushed him loudly, a grin on his face. "Eat your food, old man."

"Whatever you say... _Kid_."

Barry had to work very hard not to spit out a comment like 'anything I say? I say take me on a date' or similar.

So then they continued to eat their food, throwing some ideas about the case at each other between bites and Barry tried his darndest to not sound guilty as he spoke about the Scarlet Speedster. Before they knew it they were almost done, and Len took out his wallet to see if he had enough to pay in cash for his lunch.

And that's right about when Barry realized he'd left his wallet at the station. Shit.

"I think I'm gonna try what you had the next time, you know. It looked pretty amazing." Len said as he flipped through his wallet to look for the money necessary.

"Yeah?" Barry asked, desperately trying to figure out what the hell he should do. 

Len nodded, closing up his wallet. "Yeah, either that or those fried shrimps with noodles - whatever they were called."

"Mhm." Barry nodded. "So... Did you have enough?"

"Yeah, thankfully I didn't order anything too expensive. I have just enough to pay for coffee as well, without having to use my card." Len replied before waving at a waiter.

"Is everything alright?" The waiter asked as he walked up to them, smiling politely.

"Yes, I was just wondering if I could order a coffee? And my friend here would like the bill, I think?"

Barry violently shook his head. "No! No, that's uhh- that's fine, I'll have a coffee too."

Len raised his eyebrows. "Really? You never have coffee after lunch."

Barry just strained a smile. "Well, I feel like coffee today, so..."

The waiter scribbled down some notes in his little book. "Two coffees, coming up." He smiled before he left for the kitchen.

Len turned to Barry the second the waiter left. "So, what's up with you?" He demanded, looking both curious and somewhat suspicious.

"Nothing, nothing just... Feel like having a coffee. What's up with the interrogation, can't a man just order a coffee?" Barry replied, a little _too_ innocently.

"I don't buy it. And I don't mean I don't pay for it -- I mean I don't _buy_ that you're getting a coffee."

"Why not?"

"Just last week you said that you feel sick when drinking coffee after a meal."

"That was last week, times change, man."

"Uh-huh." Len just replied, not looking convinced but letting it go.

"Either way, I uhh- I'm going to the bathroom for a sec. If my coffee arrives just... Leave it for me by my seat, yeah?"

Len nodded. "Are you gonna take long, or...?"

"No! No, just a little while. I'll be back in a minute." Barry assured, making his way to the restroom.

Spoiler alert: He wasn't back in a minute.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter is basically a filler, where we get to see what kind of relationship Barry and Len have with each other. As you can see, they're pretty good friends - but Barry clearly has a _huge_ crush on Len. What Len thinks isn't very obvious, though, seeing as I'm telling this from a very Barry-centered pov... That might change later c;
> 
> Tell me what you think about this chapter in the comments! ^^
> 
> Also: Are there any specific characters you want to see in this story? I have a lot more than the ones in the tags planned, but I have a few open slots where I just need to plop down a fitting character, any suggestions? c:


	3. Please, God, tell me he didn't feel my hand on his ass

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Barry gropes people (for good reasons).

Barry was on a mission. This mission was to pay for his goddamn lunch.

That couldn't be so difficult, right?

What the hell was he thinking, leaving his wallet at the station when he was going for lunch? He must've been in such a haze from being asked to lunch by Len that he didn't even think to bring it. _Stupid_. How the hell was he supposed to fix this? I mean, technically he _could_ just ask Len to pay for it with his card and then Barry could pay him back later.

But that wasn't gonna happen. It was a matter of pride. Plus he didn't want to look stupid in front of his ~~cru~~ _friend_.

So what other options did he have? He couldn't just tell the waiter that he didn't have the money - they'd just call the police or have him dish his way out of it. And Barry was _not_ going to do their dishes all day just to pay for his lunch.

And he was _definitely not_ going to get arrested. So there was only one way to do this.

And that was to pick pocket someone.

So when he'd excused himself from the table to go to the bathroom he made up a plan: Wait by the sink, fixing his hair or whatever, until someone that seemed to have their wallet in their pocket came up to him. Then he'd just slip his hand in their pocket and... Relieve them of it.

Easy. He'd done it hundreds of times before.

Barry entered the bathroom and walked up to the row of sinks, there were only three of them, so Barry took the middle one. Then he stood before the mirror and started to fix his hair, his shirt and whatever else seemed like a normal thing to do.

Soon he heard one of the stalls open up, and a short guy who was as wide as he was tall walked out and took the sink to Barry's left.

Barry took a peek at his pockets, but it seemed he didn't have his wallet on him. Damnit. Barry glanced at his watch to figure out how long he could wait until he had to go back and ask Len to cover his bill. He then decided to give himself another ten minutes, maybe he'd have to say he was feeling a bit queasy when he came back but whatever.

The man washed his hands and left, and Barry just stayed - waiting for another possible victim.

The next person who walked out was a man who definitely has his wallet on him. Barry had to contain himself not to shriek "Jackpot" as he saw it stick out of the man's back pocket.

He settled for the sink on Barry's right and started to wash his hands, Barry continued with the mindless patting of his hair - seemingly trying to fix it. But he kept glancing at the wallet, trying to figure out how he could lift it from the other man.

"Bad date?" The guy suddenly asked, turning to Barry.

"Huh?" Barry asked, confused and slightly worried the man had figured out Barry's intentions. "What makes you think that?"

The guy smiled. "The fact that you came in here before me and you're still here fixing your hair. You hiding?"

"Oh." Barry blushed a bit out of embarrassment. "I see, uh. Yeah."

"Which one was it?"

"Huh?"

"What person? There are pretty few left out there, seeing as lunch hour is almost over."

"Yeah, it's - uhh - it's the guy with the shaved head."

The guy raised his eyebrows. "A guy? I see, so you're gay?"

"Bi, actually, but yeah."

The guy nodded. "That's cool, I guess. Good luck with your date, uhh..."

"Barry." Barry replied as the man reached out his hand for Barry to shake. "You?"

The guy smiled. "Tom. Nice to meet you, Barry."

"You too."

And then the guy turned to leave, and Barry realized he hadn't lifted Tom's wallet yet. He panicked.

But Barry was a seasoned pick-pocketer, he knew what to do. So he walked out of the bathroom and spotted Tom talking to one of the waitresses about his food. Barry walked up to him, but then continued on towards where Len was sitting - who was currently sipping his coffee.

Barry's hand gracefully slipped over Tom's back pocket as he walked past, hoping that he wouldn't notice. But the violent jerk from the man told Barry that he might not be as good as lifting wallets without people noticing as he thought he was.

Barry just continued walking. Telling himself over and over again in his head to _not_ look back because that'd just be creepy. Just let the guy think you fondled his ass, so what? He was never going to see Tom or whatever again, so what did it matter? Barry made a mental note to _not_ visit this particular restaurant again in case Tom was a regular.

Barry rushed to his seat opposite of Len with a blush and Len just looked up from his coffee at Barry in confusion. 

"You're finally back? I thought I was going to have to call the police to report you missing." He smirked.

"Very funny, Len." Barry replied, peeking into his newly stolen wallet, finding enough cash to pay for his meal and coffee. He took the cash out and put it on the table. Praying to whatever God was listening that Tom wouldn't realize his wallet was missing before Barry and Len were long gone.

"You done? I'm thinking of leaving." Barry continued, making himself sound more calm than he felt.

Len raised an eyebrow at him, but nodded as he put down his now empty coffee cup. "You haven't even touched your coffee."

Barry shrugged with a dry smile. "You know me, I feel sick when I drink coffee after a meal." He said before hurriedly turning to call a waiter over. "Could we get separate bills, please?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, this is pretty much a filler. I just wanted to get it out there that Barry is, in fact, a pickpocket. Painting the picture that even if he isn't the biggest crook of them all, he's still on the wrong side of the law in every sense of the word. Even _if_ he's a bit of a double-cross playing for both teams -- _if_ you know what I mean. ;)
> 
> Remember to leave a comment to say what you thought about this chapter! I'll post the next chapter in a shortie, probably tomorrow but if not then the day after that. See you soon~ ^^


	4. The irony is strong with this one

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Barry has to get rid of some evidence pointing a dirty finger towards himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next chap as promised! The one after this will be a bit longer, I'll give you a hint about what it'll be about in the end notes~

After The Lunch Ass-ault Fiasco™, Barry and Len went back to the station to get to work. Len had already gotten some work done that day, seeing as he'd started early, whilst Barry had literally just had a meeting and then gone to lunch.

"Why'd the Scarlet Speedster break into the museum last night, you reckon?" Len asked as he sat down at his desk, Barry leaning against another desk opposite of Len's.

"I dunno, what'd he say he was doing?" Barry just asked, voice a tad bit lower so that bypassers wouldn't catch the meaning of his words.

Len sighed in what seemed to be poorly-concealed frustration. "He didn't."

"He must've said something." Barry continued to press the matter, seeing as he knew what had happened, having been there himself (but it's not like Len knew that).

Len closed his eyes in thought as he hitched a breath. "Lemme see... At around 11 PM I got a notice that the silent alarm at the museum had been triggered and so I went there."

"Uh-huh, so far so good."

"When I arrived, he was there."

"And what was he doing?"

Len opened his eyes and met Barry's gaze. "He just... Flashed about."

Barry almost scoffed. " _Flashed about?_ What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"He was running around, ok?"

"And?" Barry asked.

"And what?"

"What happened next?"

Len sighed. "I asked him what he was doing, you know, the usual banter," Barry tried not to smirk at the word choice. "-and he just said 'What, can't a supervillain enjoy some culture every now and then?' upon which I said that maybe go during daytime when the museum is open for public."

Barry scoffed. "And then?"

"And then he said that that was a good idea, and he'd just have to try that next time." Len slid a hand across his face, rubbing the bridge of his nose on the way down. "And then he left."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that."

Barry huffed. "Well, that's not helpful at all."

Len sighed. "Tell me about it." He replied, before smiling at Barry. "Which reminds me, don't you have some samples to check out?"

Barry quickly stood up, nearly knocking a stack of documents to the floor. "Oh, right! I gotta go, see you later, Len." He said, a quick smile at him as he turned to scurry up the stairs towards his lab.

"Yeah, see you." Len replied to air, a tiny smile on his lips.

***

Barry sighed deeply as he entered his bright lab. The nagging feeling that something big was going to happen lingering on from that morning. So far nothing super-unusual had happened, but Barry's gut feelings had a tendency to be right - so he wasn't going to relax just yet. Maybe it was just the fact that his planned heist yesterday had been... Postponed.

Barry smirked to himself. Len hadn't realized his plans yet, which was good. He had been a bit worried that'd he'd have realized the meaning behind his quippy reply from yesterday about having to try out going there during daytime, but it seems he's as dense as ever. Which, for the Scarlet Speedster, was good. But not as good for Barry Allen, seeing as it meant that Len might _never_ realize Barry's feelings for him.

But then again Barry tried _very_ hard to _not_ show his feelings. That didn't stop the rest of the whole damn Central City police force to know it, though. But Len was none the wiser.

Barry took a look at the bags of evidence sitting on his desk, collected from the crime scene last night by some officers and the leading detective on the case -- Len. There wasn't much. A little dust - probably there from way before the speedster broke in - in a zipper, dirt that someone - not the speedster - had left in muddy tracks on the floor, skin cells from probably two dozen different - all innocent - people who'd visited the bank and--

Oh _shit_.

Sitting on his desk in an evidence bag was nothing else but a wrist watch. _Barry's_ wrist watch. How the _hell_ did that end up in an evidence bag?! Literally _every single person_ on the force knew this was Barry's... So how come nobody has questioned him about it? Len was there at the scene last night, and so was probably some random CSI assistant, and Officer Spivot and-

Oh. _Officer Spivot._

Now he got it. She'd seen the watch, realized he'd been there and--

\--and _what_ , exactly? Decided that he'd have the chance to destroy the evidence pointing its shiny needle on Barry being the Scarlet Speedster?

He shook his head. No... Patty Spivot detested meta-humans who used their powers for bad, she'd do almost anything to put them behind bars... Then why'd she glossed over his watch? Unless...

Unless she didn't think he was a meta-human who used his powers for _bad_.

Barry scoffed loudly. Oh, my God.

"Tell me Patty doesn't think I'm Captain Cold?" Barry snickered lowly, stroking the delicate details on the wrist watch. Now what? He sighed a little as he formed a plan in his head, dropping the evidence bag with the watch in his pocket as he exited the lab to find Patty and have a little... _Talk_.

***

Barry found Patty by the coffee machine, having a discussion with another officer. Barry cleared his throat to catch her attention and she glanced at him for a second before widening her eyes a bit, telling the other officer that she had to go and that it was nice talking. When she'd managed to extract herself from the officer she walked up to Barry and he gestured they'd continue walking, to prevent people from catching their conversation.

"Barry." She said, voice hushed, and Barry just picked up the evidence bag from his pocket slightly, nodding at it.

"So you were the one who collected this yesterday?" He asked, letting the bag drop into his pocket again as they rounded the corner towards the stairs up.

Patty nodded, looking around for spying ears before talking. "I was the only one who saw it, so don't worry."

Barry smiled dryly. "Worry about _what_ exactly, Patty?"

Patty looked at him for a second -- _was she reading him?_ \-- before she replied. "Worry about, you know, your _identity_ being leaked.

"My identity as _what_ exactly, Patty? What are you insinuating?" Barry pressed as they went to a stop at the top of the stairs.

Patty sighed a little, tugging on his arm to continue walking as she lowered her voice even further as she replied. "As _Captain Cold_ of course, dummy."

Barry almost laughed out of happiness. But then he nodded, keeping a somewhat stoic face. "So you realized."

Patty smiled. "Of course I did, it says 'Barry Allen' on the back side of it, plus I know for a fact that you had not been to the museum yesterday. The only logical explanation was that you were Cold."

Barry looked around the room, making sure that nobody else had heard before hushing her half-heartedly. "This stays between us, okay? No going shouting it from the rooftops or anything, I could get in serious trouble."

Patty nodded obediently. "Of course, my lips are sealed... What are you going to do about the watch, though?"

Barry rubbed his temple. "Did you file it?" 

Patty just nodded and Barry sighed. "Alright, that's... That's okay, I'll figure something out."

"Okay... Good luck with the crime fighting... _Cold_ " She replied with something that was as close to a smirk as that woman could get, before turning her back to leave.

Barry just sighed deeply, pulling a hand through his hair before he walked back to his lab in deep thought.

Now, how the hell was he supposed to solve _this?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember to comment what you thought aabout this chapter~
> 
> The next chapter's name will be: "PDA*"
> 
> (but you'll have to wait a few days to see what it is truly about... hehe)


	5. PDA*

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *Public Displays of Ass-fondling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I've _actually_ planned this whole thing out in detail now. It'll be around 30 chapters, around two chapters a week, hopefully. At least in the beginning. So far nothing much is happening, but in the chapters that are up after this, there'll be more stuff going on.

The rest of Barry's day went by in a haze. He went through the rest of the evidence from the museum, categorizing it and making sure that it was all filed and stored away in the - humongous - evidence box for the Scarlet Speedster. But so far none of the evidence had gotten them anywhere, which might just be because Barry was the one _in charge_ of dealing with the evidence - making it sublimely easy for him to just... Get rid of it, if he felt it nessecery.

Kind of like the watch. The point with that one, though, was that he'd have to actually replace it with another similar one.

Just one that didn't say "Barry Allen" on the back side and that didn't have his fingerprints all over it.

That couldn't be _that_ difficult, right? He scoffed. This was the second time today he was going to have to fix his problems by stealing stuff. But this time he wasn't going to do it in broad daylight, no he was going to do it in a place packed full of people in the dark that would not be suspicious of a hand slipping past their backside.

He was going to a club.

The whole point of his plan was to steal the money nessecery to buy the clock. Why not just steal the clock? He must admit, that would be way easier, but that'd also attract the attention of no other than Captain Cold and... And Barry had to be honest and realize that he really didn't feel like pulling attention towards himself and the wrist watch. Because if _someone_ was going to figure out the reason why the Scarlet Speedster was suddenly stealing cheap-ass wrist watches -- that just so happens to be the exact same as Barry's -- then it was Len. And Barry _really_ didn't want Len to know he was the Scarlet Speedster.

Literally _anybody_ but him was better. Even Captain Singh, and if _he_ knew Barry'd lose his job.

 _That's_ how much Barry wanted Len not to know.

***

"I still don't get why he'd break into the museum to then do nothing." Len sighed from where he sat, leaned back in his chair with his feet propped up on his desk as he took a huge gulp of his coffee, and Barry kind of wished his conversations with Len didn't _always_ have to end up being about the case. "I mean, he breaks in and then he just starts running about! It's like he wasn't even _planning_ on taking anything but to just-" Len quickly cut himself off.

Barry raised an eyebrow. "Just... What?"

Len stared at air, seemingly in deep thought. Barry waved a hand in front of his face. "Helloooo, earth to Len? Is anybody home?"

"Just to confuse us... Make us relax." Len finally said, voice just over a whisper. Barry gulped. 

"Uhh, how do you mean?" He asked, hoping that Len had - in fact - _not_ just figured out his whole damn scheme.

"How long does the speedster usually have between his heists?" Len just asked, sitting up straight and kicking his feet off of the table as he slammed his coffee cup onto the table with a bang and a slosh as some of the coffee splashed out and made kind of a mess. Len paid it no attention, but just stared at Barry as the question -- which was mostly rhetorical -- hung in the air.

"Uhh... A month or so." Barry replied after a moment of awkward and loaded silence. "Why...?"

Len made his way onto his feet and nearly scared Barry half-way to death at the motion. "He's been fooling us!" Len just hissed and Barry started at his friend with a questioning look. "Fooling us... _How?_ " He asked.

"I think he's going back to the museum." Len replied, already on his way out.

"Wha- _Now?!_ " Barry shrieked, mainly because that wasn't even true.

"Tonight." Len just said before stopping to look at Barry who was still sitting down at Len's desk, looking shocked. "Come on! We don't have all day, let's go."

"Go _where_?" Barry asked, still so very confused.

Len scoffed dryly. "To the museum, of course, kid."

***

This was seriously _not_ what Barry had had in mind for his day when he woke up this morning. He'd often dreamed about going on a date with Len. In a lot of those dreams, they went to the museum. They'd link arms and walk through the exhibits... Barry would talk about them -- seeing as he already knew everything about them -- and Len would listen. After they were done they'd go to the café and Barry would take a blueberry pie with whipped cream. Some of that whipped cream would get on his nose, and Len would smile and--

Barry was forcefully dragged back into reality by a rough elbow in his ribs and a hushed voice in his ear. "Focus, Barry - do you see anything suspicious?" Len asked.

Barry just smiled dryly. "Not other than us, no."

Len huffed. "Nothing suspicious at all? What about that guy -- he looks a bit shifty."

Barry looked at the guy. He was a twenty-something guy, sandy hair, glasses, he looked normal enough and-- Oh my God, it's _Hartley_. Barry nearly choked on his own breath.

"So he _does_ look suspicious." Len concluded as he dunked Barry in the back a couple of times before standing up and stalking over to Hartley. Barry hardly even had time enough to catch Hartley's attention with a heartfelt cough to warn him of the danger that was closing in. Hartley met his gaze, confusion written all over his face as he raised a quizzical eyebrow at Barry before realizing what Barry was pointing at when his face suddenly became around five shades paler.

"Hello there." Len said as he stopped by Hartley. Hartley just stared back at him as Barry scrambled up to the pair, still out of breath from his almost-choking.

"Hi...?" Hartley almost asked, letting his gaze shift between Len and Barry in question - wondering if he was supposed to pretend he _didn't_ know Barry, or...? 

Barry shook his head in a quick, tiny motion to not catch Len's attention. Desperately trying to ensure that Hartley did _not_ blow his cover and--

"What are you doing here, Barry?" Hartley said and Barry sighed as Len turned around to where Barry was standing with his eyebrows almost at his hairline, his face telling the tale of "so you know this dude, what the hell Barry".

"Hart, hey... I'm uhh, I'm working." Barry replied sheepishly, gesturing vaguely towards Len in hope that Hartley would realize who it was, _please_.

"At the museum? What, they fire you or something?"

"No... I'm here for a case." Barry replied, _'A case with the CCPD and not a casing of the museum.'_ He wanted to add but hoped that it was understandable without being said.

"And this is..." Hartley asked, glancing at Len "... Your date?" He added, a glint to his eyes that Barry recognized as playful malice.

He almost choked again, but managed to get ahold of himself (and his blush) - but sadly not his stutter - before replying. "N-no! This is my colleague, Len. Len this is my uhhh, _friend_ Hartley."

Len raised his eyebrows. " _Friend?_ " He repeated, not sounding too convinced, before he turned to Hartley with an outstretched hand. "Alright then, a pleasure to meet you Hartley, _friend_ of Barry's."

Barry was _sure_ that Len's particular tone was filled with bitterness, whyever that was.

"Likewise." Hartley just said as he grabbed Len's hand to shake, and all Barry could do was to wince at whatever the hell they were communicating through the air, which was filled to the brim with tension.

"Alrighty, then..." Barry said, barely a whisper. "Now that we've got the introductions over with it, maybe we should go back to uhh, _casing_ , Len?"

Len let go of Hartley's hand, leaving pale marks from where he'd pressed hard on it, and stepped back. "I guess so. Let's go."

Barry let out a small breath. "Good, great... I guess I'll see you later Hart, yeah?" Hartley nodded at him. 

"Yeah, see you later Barry."

***

Barry's day was just getting better and better. Seriously. And he was _not_ being sarcastic... What makes you think _that?_ And he hadn't even gotten to the club yet. He was currently sitting next to Len on a bench in the museum again, Len brooding beside him. Barry wanted to ask what his deal was, but was honestly a bit worried that Len would just snap at him so he decided to keep his mouth shut.

As time went on, though, the silence was starting to become more than a little uncomfortable, and the hours were late. Barry sighed. "So..." He started, hoping that Len wouldn't be annoyed still - whatever the hell he was annoyed at to start with.

Len didn't even blink, much less reply or even give any sort of indication that he'd heard Barry.

"It's starting to become a bit late..." Barry continued, but Len just kept staring at the few people still left at the museum.

"... And they're closing up in less than an hour now." 

Len sighed, an annoyed frown still on his face. "You're leaving, then?"

Barry nodded, trying not to think about the fact that Len looked almost _cute_ with that expression. "I, uhh, I have somewhere to be."

Len did his half-nod sideways with his head that told Barry he was annoyed. "With that _friend_ of yours?" He almost hissed.

Barry just stared at him, confused. "Wha- No. No, I-" He sighed, laughing softly out of surprise. "No, I promised Joe that'd I show up for dinner tonight, I haven't been at home since Thanksgiving." Half of this was true. Or, well, two-thirds actually.

He _was_ , technically, seeing Hartley later -- seeing as he was a part of his Rogues gang. And it was true that he hadn't been at Joe's since Thanksgiving a few weeks back. But he definitely wasn't going there tonight.

But whatever, Len didn't have to know that.

Len's face softened at his words. "Oh, I- I see. I won't keep you, then."

Barry smiled, getting this strange feeling in his chest at the thought that _maybe Len had been jealous?_ "Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow, Len."

Len returned Barry's huge smile with a small one. "Yeah, tomorrow."

***

The club was dark, dimmed neon lights shone down on the people on the inside. For a Tuesday night, this place was _packed_. Barry smirked, wading through the masses of people on the hunt for someone who'd be an easy target. He spotted a girl by the bar, her wallet sticking up from her tiny, silver-shining purse. She was wearing the shortest skirt known to mankind and her stilettos were accompanied by almost three inches of plateau. However the hell she managed to walk in those shoes were beyond Barry, but whatever, he was only going to steal her wallet so what did he care?

On his way over there he walked past a group of people, where he noticed one had an actual wad of cash in his back pocket. Barry never _was_ one to be able to withstand temptation. He noticed the guy was currently flirting with some younger guy -- which gave Barry all the information he needed to know how he was going to play this one.

He continued on his route to the bar, walking past the guys and on his way he let his hand fly over to give the guy's ass a gentle squeeze as he plopped the wad of cash out of the guy's pocket. After all, there is no better way to disguise a pick-pocketing than with some friendly groping.

What Barry hadn't expected when doing this, though, was the unholy _groan_ the guy would give out at Barry's action. Barry honestly felt like he would have to wash his ears with holy water after hearing that. Some people even turned to look at them with weirded out expressions and Barry honestly couldn't blame them -- he'd have done the same in their situation. 

The guy then turned around to get a good look at whoever had just fondled his backside and Barry seriously wished he'd just have run away when he'd still had the chance. It was too late now, namely. So he was just left standing there, his face as red as he didn't even know what, as the guy stared him down. Was he going to hit him? Barry was frightened half-way to death by the time the guy finally moved. What happened next was... _Interesting_ , to say the least. The guy didn't even look at Barry's face twice before pulling him into a steel grip and smashed his lips onto Barry's in the sloppiest kiss Barry had ever experienced. He then let Barry go, after an uncomfortably long kiss, and studied Barry's face. And it was somewhere around there that Barry realized the guy had been wearing lipstick. And that lipstick was probably _all_ over Barry's face by now.

"You're cute, kid. And kind of cheeky, I like it." The guy said, and Barry cringed at the nickname that he had reserved for no one else than Len. "But a little too much like a puppy." The guy added, and without another word, he turned his back to him and walked (more like stumbled) away. Barry sighed out of relief and looked towards the bar where the girl with the wallet had been standing not too long ago.

She - and her wallet - was gone. Barry cursed at himself under his breath and picked up the wad of cash he'd just stolen from his pocket to see how much it was. 45 bucks? That was nowhere _near_ the 120$ he needed... He sighed as he let his gaze sweep across the club again, he'd just have to continue on, then...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Hartley was actually not going to be in this chapter, I just wrote and suddenly he was there and Len and he had this dominance fight going on all of a sudden and I just-- 
> 
> I don't even know, man. Maybe he was jealous of Hart? >v<
> 
> Also, I was actually laughing my ass off as I wrote the last part of this chapter, but maybe I was just tired ~~I haven't slept in 34 hours~~. 
> 
>  
> 
> Comments make my day! ^^


	6. It could always be worse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which it then immediately starts to rain -- _literally_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've just realized that the day Len finds out Barry is a criminal, he will also find out that Barry has literally groped dozens of people that are not him... Will he be jealous or just concerned? xD ~~no groping in this chapter, don't worry~~

Barry really just wanted for this day to _end_. That's all he was asking for. A good night's sleep and some rest. Was that too much to ask for? Apparently, it was.

So as he slowly dragged his tired ass into his hideout, which really was just the abandoned STAR Labs, after a long night - 134$ richer than he was this morning - he really hoped that the rest of his team had already gone home.

Of course they hadn't.

"Barry! My man, you're late!" Cisco's voice sounded the minute Barry stepped into the main room -- the _cortex_ , Cisco would've corrected him -- and Barry cringed at the loudness and squinted at his friend. Cisco seemed to understand and lowered his voice as he continued. "Rough night?" He asked, and Caitlin snickered lowly from where she sat.

Barry just nodded and threw himself into one of the chairs with a groan, hoping that death could _just take him now_. But obviously he wasn't that lucky, and death left him be for the time being. Stingy son of a bitch.

"So..." Cisco started, tapping a pen on the table, a habit which was going to get him killed one day or another. "What's up?"

"What's up, what?" Barry asked, voice short and with an arm sloppily thrown across his face. How the hell was Cisco so _not tired?_

"You know... You uhh..." Cisco continued.

"I _uhh_...?" Barry asked grumpily, wishing to go home so that he could sleep.

"You look like you've had fun." Caitlin finished for him, and Barry had to take his arm off his face so that he could meet Caitlin's eyes in shocked confusion.

" _Fun?!_ "

Cisco nodded and made some sort of - almost obscene - gesture towards his mouth and then kind of smothered over it. _Aha._

"Oh, the lipstick?"

"Yeah." Cailin replied, a short nod.

"Plus the fact that you reek of booze." Cisco added.

"It was kind of an accident." Barry sighed. "I really don't want to talk about it, I was lifting wallets."

Caitlin scoffed. "And why on earth were you lifting wallets in the middle of the night at what smells like a nightclub?"

"I needed to get my hands on 120 dollars for another wrist watch."

"Uh-huh? And why's that, did 'cha lose the last one?" Cisco asked, clearly somewhat amused still over how Barry's face looked.

Barry sighed. "I dropped it at the museum last night."

Cisco and Caitlin both stared at him as they tried to figure out what the hell that meant. And when they did both of their mouths formed an 'O' shape as they gasped. " _You dropped it at a crime scene?!_ " Cisco almost shrieked, a sound way too high-pitched for Barry's tired ears.

"Yeah, but it's alright -- I've got it."

"So you're just gonna replace it...?" Caitlin trailed, calmer than Cisco seemed to be.

Barry nodded. "Yeah, don't worry, I've got it covered."

They sat in silence for a few moments, Barry almost dozing off where he sat before recollecting himself and sitting up straight in his chair. "So, uhh, is there anything more or can I go home now, do you think?"

Cisco and Caitlin were both just about to tell Barry yes when a lightning bold suddenly crackled through the room, making Barry get up on his feet faster than he could say 'Uhh'. The lights flickered for a moment before giving out, filling the cortex with darkness, a faint wind ruffling the papers on the desk around as drops of water started falling from above -- _had the sprinklers activated?_

"Who's there?!" Barry demanded, peering through the darkness at what seemed to be the silhouette of a man standing at the entry of the room.

"I'm here with a message from the man you call the _Puppetmaster_." A voice came as a reply, and Barry couldn't help but to whisper a low 'Damnit' under his breath at his words. "He's looking for you, Flash."

"That doesn't really answer my question, pal." Barry replied before he repeated his initial question, although with a different phrasing. "Who are you?"

The man came walking out of the darkness, into the moonlight from the window which then illuminated his face. Barry squinted as he took in the man's features. "My name is Mark Mardon, but I believe you like to call me Weather Wizard?" The man - Mardon - replied with a smirk and Barry's gut sank.

 _Mardon_. Barry knew that name. Joe had killed a man by that name, _Clyde_ Mardon -- Mark Mardon's younger brother.

"Let me guess, you're joining the Rogues?" Barry huffed, throwing his arms into the air in annoyance.

Mark Mardon smiled deviously, and with a single movement of his hand, the breeze and what Barry had now understood was rain stopped in an instant. "Dead on."

***

Barry had never been a fan of the Puppetmaster. The Puppetmaster was his boss - in a way. He'd tell Barry what to steal and when to steal it, or give him the option to choose whenever the hell he felt like doing it. When Barry and his team had gotten the item or whatever else it might be, Barry would go to the Puppetmaster's lair (which was on the outskirts of town, where only the two of them knew where it was) and hand it over for a generous payment.

Barry honestly couldn't find many flaws with their arrangement. If it wasn't for the fact that the Puppetmaster (who actually didn't call himself the Puppetmaster - that's just Cisco's name for him) was a pretty shady guy, and Barry trusted him as far as he could throw him. Less, even.

But Barry had no choice, he'd been drafted by the Puppetmaster before he even had powers - back when he was just a lonely and sad kid who'd lost his mother and whose father was in prison for her murder. The Puppetmaster had given him a life, and Barry was thankful for that. But now he was stuck. After he got his powers, when the particle accelerator exploded, he was suddenly the head of the gang and could suddenly _do_ so much more than to just pick-pocket people on the tube for change.

Barry could be a master thief.

And so he became one. Stuck in the clutches of a man known since then as the Puppetmaster, until the day he decided to release Barry. Barry didn't even know if he'd ever let Barry go. But right now, that didn't really matter. So as Barry came to a stop where he knew the Puppetmaster was waiting for him, he put a stoic expression on his face - not showing what he was thinking or feeling, determined to not show any weakness to this man.

"Barry." The Puppetmaster mused as Barry's lightning stopped in front of him. "You're late as always."

Barry scoffed. "I wasn't aware we had a specific schedule?"

The Puppetmaster seemed to smile dryly from the darkness, but didn't reply.

"What is it that you wanted?" Barry asked instead, wanting to cut this short so that he could go home and curl up in his warm and comfy bed before having to go to work in the morning.

The Puppetmaster stayed silent for a moment, seemingly thinking about something or other. "How is the heist going?"

"For the Rose?" Barry asked in turn, and the Puppetmaster nodded slowly.

"Just fine." Barry replied. "I'm worried about Le- _Detective Snart_ though."

The Puppetmaster raised his eyebrows. "How so?"

"He knows we're going back to the museum. He thought it was tonight, though." Barry silenced himself. "He's probably still there, actually. Casing the place, looking for any suspicious activity."

"Then he'll be tired tomorrow." The Puppetmaster added with a nod.

"I'm not doing the heist tomorrow." Barry just snapped, voice trying desperately to be calm but failing slightly.

"No?" The Puppetmaster asked, voice seemingly innocent, but Barry recognized his tone to be slightly annoyed. He'd known the man for long enough to read him.

"No."

"And why is that, exactly?"

"Because _I'll_ be tired tomorrow. Not to mention the fact that we've planned it for Friday." Barry huffed, sure of his point.

"Very well, then Barry. Do as you please, just make sure to get me that diamond."

"Ruby."

" _Like I said_ ," The Puppetmaster started, voice definitely laced with annoyance this time. Barry smirked. "Have a good night, Barry."

Barry hummed. "You too--"

-

" _\--Doctor Wells_."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OOooohhh, Doctor Wells has been introduced -- and he's _the Puppetmaster_ , whaaa?
> 
> By the way, in this universe, STAR Labs _was_ run by Doctor Wells, but when the particle accelerator exploded he shut the place down. It's now abandoned but Barry and the rest of team Flash use it as their main base (team Flash being Barry, Cisco, Caitlin and Hartley in this scenario). The others having had worked there before the explosion.
> 
> The rest of Team Flash does _not_ know that Wells is the Puppetmaster, only Barry knows that. And don't worry, we'll see more of Team Flash _and_ Wells in later chapters (not to mention the rogues), so don't worry about that. c:
> 
> And day one has come to an end! The next chapter will finally take place on another day! And yes, that means that it was literally this morning that he talked with Singh about the museum thing. A very _eventful_ day, it was. ~~Barry got to grope two butts today, but neither of them were Len's... damnit~~ (I might really have to add slow burn as a tag lol)
> 
> Remember: comments bring my cold, dead soul back to life. ;)


	7. "Shady" /ˈʃeɪdi/ (adjective): 1. situated in or full of shade. 2. of doubtful honesty or legality

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Get ready to cry over-dramatic blood tears of secondhand embarrassment over Barry's painful awkwardness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! So I posted this shortstory that takes place in-between this chapter and thf next one yesterday. It can be found under my works, or you can just click the series thingy on this (Role Reversal AU) and the second story will be that one. :)
> 
> I'd post a link, but I'm on my mobile and so I'll fix it first thing tomorrow morning instead.

Barry rolled out of bed with a heartfelt groan of exhaustion, feeling a strange sensation of déjà vu as he slammed his alarm clock to oblivion and beyond before staggering into his kitchen to go make some coffee. If Barry died of sleep-deprivation (which really wasn't that much of a stretch seeing as he'd gotten about ten hours of sleep all together in the past week, which was about a fifth of what he usually had) and was reborn he'd make sure to _not_ lead a double life like this. Because this was just torture. How the hell did Len do it?

It was probably easier for him, actually. He probably didn't have a humongous team behind him that he needed to see after work every day. He didn't have to plan all these heists either -- just go stop them. And he _definitely_ didn't need to go have secret Rendez-Vouses with creepy-ass old guys who wanted him to steal stuff. Barry imagined he was actually in a pretty unique situation with that. That's always a comfort, being _unique_. 

As if his powers didn't already make sure of that. _Fastest Man Alive_ \-- Barry liked the sound of that. The problem was that all the people who he could boast about that with were his secret friends that everybody else in his life didn't even know about. Which kind of put a strain on their relationship, seeing as he only had so much time to spend with people he wasn't even supposed to be acquainted with.

It's not like he could bring Cisco and Caitlin over for Sunday dinner at the West's, much less any of his rogues. Imagine Joe's face if Mick Rory or Shawna Baez turned up on Joe's doorstep claiming to be Barry's _friends_. Joe would probably just shoot them, honestly. Barry snickered a bit as he sipped his newly-brewed coffee, he could almost see Joe's expression before his eyes. Eyes wide, shin at the floor and that weird knit of his eyebrows. Yeah, that'd be a sight to behold.

But not one Barry was ever going to have a pleasure to see, if he had anything to say about it. He'd rather his family _didn't_ know about his criminal empire (which is what Barry liked to call it, but that was honestly _such_ an overstatement). Because following that surprised face would be an angry one. A _disappointed_ one. And Barry _hated_ it when Joe was disappointed with him. It usually ended up with him giving Barry the cold (hah!) shoulder and occasional Very Disappointed Dad™-Looks. And Barry would rather not have to endure that, actually.

Barry finished his morning coffee and then quickly zipped through the rest of his morning routine, taking a shower, getting dressed and stuffing some high-calorie bars in his mouth before brushing his teeth and running off to work. Literally.

Well at work (in time this morning, wow) he walked up the stairs towards his lab, at a leisurely pace, content that the Captain would have no reason to yell at him today. This day was already starting better than yesterday. Wednesday was going to be over in a _flash_ (not even sorry about that one) if it continued like this. And man, was Barry hoping that it would. In a way, he kind of hoped that Friday would just be here already so that he could get the heist over with it and get some rest for once in a lifetime.

The very minute The Blood Rose was in the hands of Doctor Wells, namely, was the moment that Barry could relax. When he didn't have to go on daily briefings at the abandoned Star Labs to talk with his friends and colleagues about how the planning was going. He would also not have to go to the Rogues hideout to talk with _them_ about the heist. Barry honestly felt like he was living a _double_ double life.

One as Barry Allen, CSI at the CCPD. One as The Scarlet Speedster, infamous pickpocket and leader of the Rogues. One as The Flash, spokesperson and middle man of The Puppetmaster. And then there was the one that was _actually_ him. The guy that just really wanted to sleep in on weekends, watching superhero movies all cozied up on the couch with some hot cocoa in his hands. Maybe right next to someone... Someone like--

"Barry!" A voice called at him, making him both cringe as it took him away from his daydreams, but also feel all warm and happy, seeing as he'd recognize that voice any day of the week -- it was _Len_. The very person he dreamed of having next to him in all of those daydreams of a normal life. Well, well... Dream on, Barry.

"Uh-huh?" Barry replied sleepily, that coffee from earlier not having been enough to wake him up properly - he was just going to have to go to Jitters later, he guessed. With his powers, nobody would even notice he was gone before he came back.

Len peeked his head into the lab, two cups of coffee in his hands. Seems like he beat Barry to it. "You look like you need this." Len smiled softly as he put the cup down on Barry's desk in front of him. "Rough night?"

"Like you wouldn't believe." Barry just scoffed as a reply.

"Yeah, because the Wests are _known_ to party hard at their family dinners." Len replied, a certain tone to his voice that Barry couldn't really place. Barry gulped.

"Iris forced me to go with her to a club to do some, you know, _investigating_ after dinner."

Len raised his eyebrows. "For her work at the CCPN?" 

Barry nodded. "Yeah, she's investigating this elaborate conspiracy theory about different bars using cheaper alcohol in their expensive cocktails." He lied, hoping that Len wouldn't ever ask Iris about it.

Len scoffed. "That's a conspiracy? I thought that was common knowledge."

Barry smiled dryly. "Yeah, well. You know Iris."

"Surprisingly not that well." Len just replied before drawing a deep breath through his nose. "Either way, how's that evidence from Monday doing?" He asked and Barry nearly flinched at the mention.

He honestly felt like dying. Right then, right there. He still had the watch in the pocket of his jacket, waiting for him along with the 120$ collected from last night needed to buy a new one. He was planning on going during lunch, not expecting Len to want it already. "Uh, it's doing fine, really. It's all bagged and tagged, plus I've run it all, the dust particles were - you guessed it - mostly clothing and skin fragments, like dust usually is. The - uhh - muddy footprints were a size 10 male-"

"Mine, I believe." Len interrupted and Barry nodded before continuing. "Nothing else led anywhere either, all just circumstantial and won't lead us to the speedster." Barry concluded.

Len took a breath of contemplation before nodding. "Can I take the box?" He asked, gesturing a hand at the box of evidence sitting on Barry's desk.

Barry's mind short-circuited. "Sure! Sure, yeah just... Just remember to follow the chain of the evidence." Len just nodded at that. "I've been a cop far longer than you've been a CSI, Barry, I know how to do things like this."

Barry just hummed as a reply, a strained smile on his lips as he fidgeted with a pen. Len narrowed his eyes at him as he lifted the box off the desk after having signed the slip of paper necessary. "What's gotten you all antsy this morning?" He asked, nodding his head at Barry's fidgeting.

"Nothing, nothing just... The case, you know. How'd it go last night, by the way? I reckon the speedster never showed or I would've heard about it."

Len sighed, handing the paper for Barry to sign. "No, he didn't show. Which is odd because I could've sworn I'd cracked his scheme this time..."

Barry bit the inside of his cheek to keep from saying something he shouldn't at Len's frustrated frown. Barry seldom thought of Len as _cute_ but whenever he made that face Barry just wanted to walk up and pinch the older man's cheeks. Which would've been odd and not to mention extremely embarrassing.

"Maybe he'll just come back some other day?" Barry said instead, and quickly made a mental note to kick himself as soon as Len left because _Oh my God, how stupid could a person get? Why not tell him the whole damn plan while you're at it?_

Len nodded, but the frustrated frown stayed on his face as he spoke. "Maybe..."

Barry took a deep breath to not say any more stupid things in this particular convo, handing the paper back to Len and Len put it in the folder on the box. "Either way, I have some work I need to get done before lunch so, uhh..." Barry trailed.

"Yeah, I'll leave you to it. Do you want to grab lunch with me at the sushi place later, or...?" Len asked as he shifted the box of evidence in his arms to pick up the inventory list that was in it. Barry cursed at himself in his head, he needed to be alone at lunch so that he could go buy that watch undisturbed and without people questioning him about it.

"Oh, um, no that's alright. I promised to go get lunch with-" Somewhere around here Barry tried to figure out who the hell he was going to drag into his lie this time around. He'd just lied about spending time with Iris yesterday so that wasn't going to happen. Plus she was probably going to get lunch with Eddie, and with him and Joe working at the CCPD Len would _definitely_ figure out that Barry lied. Who the hell else could he say he was going to lunch with? Barry went through all the people he knew in his head, desperate to find a suitable friend to have a pretend-lunch with and--

"-Hartley." Barry finished and suddenly the frustrated frown that had recently left Len's face was back in business, and this time it was an _angry_ one. Seems like Len had a problem with Hartley, Barry noted.

"Your _friend_ from the museum yesterday?" Len grumbled with ill-disguised annoyance.

"Yeah, that's him."

Len nodded stiffly at him before turning to leave the lab. Just as he was at the door he turned his head to meet Barry's eyes for a second. "You have fun, then."

"I will, see you later." Barry smiled as a reply, before sighing deeply and nearly falling into his chair again after Len had left.

***

Barry had just returned from lunch, having not eaten anything but at least he'd managed to get his dirty hands on that stupid replacement watch for the evidence. He was in his lab, carefully wiping the new watch with a cloth to erase any possible fingerprints he might have left on it. He was just about to pick up the evidence bag from the jacket he was currently wearing to make the switch when he was interrupted by the sound of Len's voice calling for his just outside of his lab. He quickly slipped the new watch into his pocket before taking on the most innocent expression he could muster.

"Barry, are you- Oh, you are here." Len said as he came into the lab. Barry was seriously thinking of putting a bell on him if he was going to continue barging into his lab like this because this was just getting out of hand.

"Yup." he replied instead. Feigning cheerfulness as he tried to make sure that his stomach didn't make any loud and unwelcome noises to reflect his immense hunger. "Did you need anything?"

Len nodded. "Yeah, see I was looking at the inventory of the box of evidence you gave me earlier..." Len started and Barry started to feel the cold sweat form under his jacket. He slipped his hand into his pocket and carefully tried to open the bag of evidence to switch the watches.

"Yeah?"

"And I couldn't help to notice that Officer Spivot filed a wrist watch."

Barry nodded as he continued trying to switch the watches, he was now slowly lifting the original one from the bag, trying his very best to not ruffly the plastic of the bag. "Uh-huh, what about it?" He asked, hoping he sounded as innocent as he hoped he did.

"Well, it's missing." Len just said, a suspicious eyebrow at Barry - so maybe he didn't look very innocent, after all.

"Really? I could've sworn it was in the box, are you sure?" Barry asked, his voice one pitch too loud as he had managed to get the new watch into the bag and was now trying to close the zipper, but that was a bit difficult with just the one hand.

"Sure as death." Len just replied.

"Oh, well uhh... I'll just take a look on my desk to see if I accidentally left it out or something, then." Barry said - maybe a bit too quickly - before turning around and ruffling around the papers on his desk, pretending to look for it. He then made an 'aha' noise as he dove behind the desk and picked up the bag from his pocket. He took a second to close it before popping up from behind the desk, evidence bag with the watch in hand. 

"It was on the floor, must've fallen down or something." He said, a false grin on his face - one that Len was sure to see straight through, but he didn't point it out.

Len nodded, and Barry cursed at himself under his breath at Len's expression. _Suspicion_. "Yeah, must've." Len just said as he accepted the bag from Barry and taking a look at it, raising an eyebrow at its contents.

"This is just like yours." He said flatly.

"Yup." Barry replied, popping the 'P'. "But mine's right here." He continued, lifting his wrist up to show off the watch that was now there. Len could've sworn Barry wasn't wearing that clock a minute ago.

"Yeah, look at that." Len replied. " _That's_ a coincidence." He continued, and somehow seemed less suspicious, much to Barry's delight.

"Yeah, well, it's a pretty common watch." He smiled and Len nodded at that, before giving Barry a small - yet reserved - smile as he left the lab again.

Barry sighed. This was really one of those times that he wished he could just down some booze and get wasted to drown out all of his problems. Too bad his super-metabolism existed, huh?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Another_ longer than planned chapter?! This is not boding well for my initial plans regarding the length of this fic. Maybe I'll have to skip some of the parts I had planned for later in the story ~~you know, when things actually start to happen and it's not _all_ just Barry and Len talking with each other~~.
> 
> This whole writing-several-chapters-ahead-of-posting thing is really getting out of hand. I'm literally writing chapter 12 rn. This chapter was written 10 days ago, back when I had something completely different in mind for this story. Well, well... Sooner or later I'll catch up with myself and post the chapters in real time.
> 
>  
> 
> ~~I don't want to sound desperate or something, but as I've said before: comments are the light in my life, the thing which I live for. Yes, I'm being over dramatic, that's just who I am.~~


	8. Sarcasm? Never heard of it

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The long awaited appearance of the Rogues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going on vacation between the 5th and 13th of August, so I won't update during that time. As soon as I get home school will start agai, as well, so I will no longer update every other day. I'm planning on weekly updates, though. c:
> 
> I'll post the next chapter on the third, and then the tenth chapter -- the first with Len's pov, and also the longest so far -- will be posted just before I leave. :)

"Why the hell does the Puppetmaster even _want_ this stupid gemstone?" Mark Mardon asked, an annoyed frown on his face as he peeked over the shoulder of Roy Bivolo to get a better look at the blueprints rolled out on the table.

"Does it matter?" Roy huffed as a reply, shifting his head so that Mark couldn't see, much to the other man's annoyance.

"It does, seeing as he's expecting us to steal it for him!" Mark hissed, grabbing on to Roy's shoulder to shove him out of the way, Barry was immediately there with a hand on Mark's arm to stop him.

"Come on guys, let's just get along, okay?" He said, but everybody in the room could hear that he was annoyed. No wonder, seeing as Roy and Mark had been at each others' throats all evening. "Roy, let the man see the damn blueprints - don't go hogging them like that, we're a _team_. We share."

Roy grumbled as a reply, but stepped aside to let Mark take a look nonetheless. "Care to fill me in on the plan, Flash?" Mark asked as he looked over the museum blueprints, trying his darndest to be polite. "I haven't really been a part of these little... Planning dates for this particular heist."

Barry huffed, making a mental note to not let Mardon get away with calling their meetings _dates_ more than this once. "Yeah, and I'm still a bit miffed that he had to drag you in on this last minute. We've already got a plan, and now we have to shift it to fit you somewhere."

"And why is that, exactly?" Mick gruffed from where he was sitting in a corner, playing with a lighter. 

Barry sent him a look, Mick paid it no attention. " _Because_ ," Barry started. "-we're a _team_. And if the Puppetmaster wants Mardon to be on our team, we'll have to make sure that he's good enough for it."

"Because I have to _prove_ that to these worthless wannabes." Mark scoffed and Barry gave him a look that told him to maybe just shut up if he didn't want to end up like the _last_ guy who went under the name 'Weather Wizard'.

"Yes," Barry hissed with poorly-disguised frustration. "-you _do_. All of these people here have done it before you. _You're_ the new guy in all of this. The black sheep."

"I thought _he_ was the black sheep." Shawna, who had been pretty quiet all evening until now, pointed out, a meaning nod towards the man standing at the entrance of the room - seemingly observing the group.

"Yeah, well... I wouldn't exactly call Abra Kadabra a _part_ of this group..." Barry replied, cringing slightly at the realization that Abra was, in fact, still here. Barry had honest to God forgot about the strange man.

"What exactly _is_ his role in this...?" Mark asked, whilst they were already on the subject, sending the man a skeptical glance.

Barry scoffed, a smirk on his lips as he faced his team -- _The Rogues_. "Magic."

***

Now obviously, "Magic" wasn't really the right word for it. More like "science" but whatever. Barry had picked up the man a few months back, telling him that if he agreed to help him and his team out every now and then he'd make sure he got a place in the spotlight. And that's all Abra Kadabra wanted, really. Attention whore wasn't even enough to cover what he was.

The man went back thousands of years in time just to do magic tricks to be noticed, for God's sake, he basically _invented_ the phrase.

Barry sighed as he let his gaze shift over the small group of people with a tiny smile. He truly _cared_ for these people. He'd never have thought that he'd do that. They were criminals, after all. Untrustworthy, violent, meta-human criminals who probably didn't give a flying shit about him when they first met.

But all that had changed now. They never said it, not out loud at least, but they were almost like family. All of these people.

Alright so maybe not _all_ of them. But most, at the very least. Abra Kadabra was really more of a person that they all tolerated - they certainly didn't _care_ for him. Mark Mardon was new, but he was fitting right in with the group. He and Roy may be quipping nonstop at each other now, but Barry could see a friendship blooming between them already.

The good thing about having a team like this was the comradery. Barry only regretted not having more than one woman in the group. Shawna tended to be reserved and lonely, slightly shying away from the rest of them due to her being the only girl on the team. Barry was determined to change that, but he really couldn't find someone who'd fit into this team. There weren't that many meta-humans around, certainly not one who'd want to join _this_ group. 

Barry sighed as agitated voices took him out of his reminiscing. Roy and Mark were shouting at each other again.

"Ooookaaay..." Barry interrupted their incoherent yells at each other, dragging out the syllables to make sure that everybody had their attention on him. Maybe Abra wasn't the only attention whore in this group? "Let's go over the plan one last time, shall we?"

The other people in the room nodded, making their way to stand or sit where they could see the blackboard Barry was currently standing in front of.

"Alright! Step one: We break in." Barry said, pointing a pen at the number '1' on the board.

"Let me guess, step two is 'grab the Rose' and three is 'leave'?" Mick scoffed from where he sat. Barry ignored him. Payback's a bitch, Rory.

"And by 'break in', I obviously mean 'walk in' -- seeing as the museum will still be open when we arrive." Barry continued. 

"We just walk in?" Mark asked, a bit taken aback at the thought. "We're robbing the museum _at daytime_?!"

"Yup." Shawna replied before Barry even had a chance. Speedster who?

Mark mumbled something that sounded like 'crazy bastards' to Barry, but he might've misheard.

"Moving on..." He said before turning to Mick. "Mick will stay behind, just as planned, waiting for my signal." He continued and Mick gruffed something that sounded vaguely like some sort of confirmation that he knew what to do. Barry nodded at him before continuing. "Hartley will stay on the outside, too. The rest of us - not you, Abra - will enter the museum, remember to _not_ do anything until Hartley's signal this time, or I swear to God." Barry would rather _not_ think about that time when Roy had stupidly activated his powers, making literally everybody on the scene trying to tear each others' windpipes out... Now _that_ had been a spectacular failure.

"Speaking of that little shit, where is the kid?" Roy asked, and Barry almost smiled at his pathetic attempt to not sound like he cared for him. They were actually pretty close, those two.

"He's at STAR Labs, I believe. He already knows his part." Barry replied. "When we get Hartley's signal - I trust you all remember what it was -- Mark will create a storm cloud."

Mark nodded as Barry went on with the explaining of the plan. "The storm will create chaos, and the building will be evacuated which will give us all the privacy we need to break into the secure container with the Blood Rose. Oh, and Mark? You're in charge of the music." Barry continued, and Mardon raised an eyebrow at him.

"You mean for that stupid tradition you have going on with the shitty heist playlist?"

"It's not a 'shitty heist playlist', but yeah."

"I thought it was _my_ turn to fix the music this time!" Roy argued, sending a stink-eye towards Mardon.

Barry sighed. "Let Mark do it this time, okay?" Barry didn't want to say that the reason Roy wasn't doing it was because he tended to have a... _Special_ taste in music. Sometimes it was good, like when he made it so that the 14-minute version of the _Pirates of the Carribean_ theme was playing the whole heist - that was a win. But then there was that time when he had just put _One Of Us_ by ABBA on repeat for the whole thing... Yeah, it was definitely for the better if Roy wasn't in charge of the music.

"And how long will it take before Captain Cold and his goons show up, you reckon?" Shawna asked, eyebrow raised at him as she spoke, pulling Barry out of his thoughts.

"Well, it _should_ take him less than 20 minutes to arrive at the scene. This Monday it took him 8 minutes and 43 seconds to get there, but tomorrow we'll have Hartley and Abra as distractions, so we can expect that number to rise. Oh, which reminds me, Abra?" The man raised his gaze from the strange sphere he had in his hands to meet Barry's eyes. "Yes?"

"No one gets injured... Remember?"

The man seemingly weighed his options before sighing as he replied. "Of course not, Flash."

"Good. The minute Cold and his CCPD 'goons' as you so delicately called them, Shawna, arrives the lot of you will make sure to get ahold of the Rose. Roy, do your thing as we discussed and Shawna, you'll zap them all back here, okay? We'll meet at the hideout when we're done."

Shawna nodded. "And you?"

Barry couldn't help a mischievous smirk from making its way to his lips as he spoke. "Why, I'll be taking care of Captain Cold while you all get away the Rose, of course."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoop! There it is... The Rogues have arrived and they're taking over the story by storm (or at least Mardon is ~~sorrynotsorry~~ ). 
> 
> Oh, and the whole music thing is something that I thought would be funny. Like, the Rogues blast a heist playlist of songs on max volume when they're doing the heist in some sort of cocky gesture. I thought it'd be funny, we'll see what you think. c;
> 
> I've been talking a lot about when the Len-centered pov will arrive, and I can tell you that it's not long now. Just a couple more chapters and then we'll see literally anything and everything that Len thinks and feels. My goal has been to make sure that the audience follows Barry in the start, that we get to know him. His routines, thoughts, emotions... Everything about him, really. And in the beginning, it's a very Barry-centered story. Seeing as it is kinda _his_ story so far. But that'll soon change! Soon Len will take over the story and we'll get to know all about him instead. Plus, in the next chapter (or the one after that), Captain Cold will make his first official appearance! So now you have something to look forward to~
> 
> Remember to tell me in the comments what you think about it so far! Questions or alike are always welcome ^^


	9. The Blood Rose*

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *may contain actual blood

"Everybody in position?" Barry asked into the comms, mostly rhetorical, before checking either way.

"Hartley?"

"All strapped in and rearing to go, Boss -- _if_ you know what I mean." Hartley replied, and Barry could almost _hear_ the cheeky wink at the end. Barry sighed as the other man chuckled in amusement on the other end of the comm, but ignored it in favor of making sure the rest were on board.

"Abra?"

"Eager to do some... _Magic_." The man replied before quickly adding a "No casualties." to his confirmation. Barry scoffed dryly.

"Good to know we're on the same page... Mick?"

"What about me?" The man gruffed after a painfully long silence.

Barry sighed and rubbed his temples where he sat at the back of a van just outside the museum. "Are you _ready_ , Mick?"

The other man almost sounded insulted as he replied brusquely. "I'm always ready to burn shit."

Barry didn't doubt that. "Good. Over and out." He then turned to the rest of the team, who were currently looking at him from where they sat in the same van as him.

He smiled mischievously at them. "Alright then... Let's go create some mass hysteria, shall we?"

The small group entered the museum, clad in more-or-less convincing disguises as they made their way through the museum, waiting for Hartley's signal through the comms. He and Abra were to start wrecking havoc at two separate locations in the city, both in the opposite directions of the museum.

It was a waterproof plan, really. Hartley was to throw them off course with his fancy gadgets and tech. He was all the way on the other side of the city, as far away from the museum you could get, and all the group had to do now was to wait for him to tell them the cops had arrived and then they could start. Abra would further boost the time they had by delaying the cops' time to the museum. Have him create a show for himself, throwing smoke bombs and invisible force-field boxes to encase and confuse law enforcements as they tried to get to the museum.

And then the rest of them would just have to do their thing, and when Captain Cold arrived the rest of the Rogues would be long gone with the Blood Rose and Barry would take care of the rest. But just because the plan was _waterproof_ didn't mean the plan was _ice proof_.

It _certainly_ wasn't ice proof.

But that, too, was a part of the plan. And Barry sure as hell wouldn't let _Len_ foil his plans. Nuh-uh. No _way_.

So Barry circled the display of the Rose one last time, taking in its appearance. He couldn't look at the Rose for too long or too many times - it'd be suspicious, and he definitely didn't want to attract some unwanted attention from the security guards before the plan was set in motion. He glanced at the gemstone.

It truly was beautiful. The deep red color of the stone contrasted against the pitch black silk pillow it laid upon, and it shimmered in the light from all around it. It didn't have one of the common shapes of gemstone, but it was cut to look as if it were an actual rose, just without the stem. Barry couldn't help but wonder how long it must've taken to achieve that particular shape. How many long and tedious hours of work had it taken?

"It's beautiful, is it not?" Came a small voice from behind him, and Barry turned to see whoever it was who had asked the question.

"Hmm?" He asked, looking at the old lady responsible with a quirked eyebrow.

"The Rose?" She continued, a warm smile on her face that reminded Barry of those ideal nice old grandmas that would bake cookies for their grandkids. The kind that Barry had never had.

"Oh, yes. It's very beautiful." Barry said, turning back to the Blood Rose. "The name is a little unfortunate, though."

"Oh, no. It's quite fitting, see." The old lady replied, and Barry quirked another eyebrow at her.

"How so?"

"So you haven't heard the story, then, young man?" She asked, sounding both excited to get to tell it, and shocked that Barry didn't know about this, apparently interesting, story. H shook his head, making a face as he shrugged.

"Oh, well then we better sit down, come here." She said in her exited-granny voice and Barry honestly couldn't muster the strength to tell her no, so he just nodded his head to the side with a shrug at Roy, who was currently sending him a confused look as Barry was being dragged away by some granny. It probably looked a little weird and was _definetaly_ not a part of their plan. But whatever.

The nice old lady had finally come to a stop and, almost forcefully, pulled Barry down to sit next to her on a bench with view over the Rose, she took a theatrical breath before starting.

"So, according to legend there once was a man. He was a very rich man, and he had fallen in love with the most _beautiful_ girl." She started and Barry couldn't help but to mutter a "Sounds like the start of every story ever." under his breath. The old lady sent him a glare before continuing. "He tried to get her to marry him, but she declined him every time saying she loved another. The rich man became mad with anger and sadness, he ordered his men to get him something that was just as beautiful as the young woman and his men traveled the globe in search for such an item. But the man declined every item, claiming it was no match for his love's beauty. Then he heard about the Rose -- and it was only called the Rose back then - and demanded his men that they go and get it."

Barry nodded, taking a look to see what the rest of the Rogues were doing. As it turns out, most of them were walking around, pretending to be interested in some of the exhibits. But they were all sending worried and questioning glances to where Barry was sitting, except for Mark, of course. He was sitting on another bench, looking bored and seemed to be listening to music, seeing as he had some headphones on -- Barry imagined he'd fixed the heist playlist, then. 

"When the men arrived at where it was said that the Rose was, they met the most beautiful girl that any of them had ever seen. They asked to buy the Rose from her, but she told them that she would never give it up, and if the rich man wanted the Rose he would just have to come get it himself. So he traveled to the woman, and the second he laid his eyes upon her he was in love. He asked, no _demanded_ that she marry him, but the woman told him no. She said that she could never love another, not after he last love. When the man asked her about her last love, she told him that when her love had died she had turned them into the Rose, and that they were forever bonded. If he took the Rose from her, she'd die." The old lady continued, and Barrys started to become a little more interested in the story, but he was a bit concerned about the massive lack of details. When did it take place? _Where_ did it take place? Was the rich man a royalty or what? And exactly _how_ far away did they go to get the Rose? He shook his head, that didn't really matter. None of this did. He had to get the old lady to finish the story so that he could be ready when Hartley's signal came, and it should do at any minute now.

"When the man had been rejected again, he truly became mad with grief." The old lady almost whispered. "He took the Rose from where it lay and viciously attacked the woman with it. He bashed her head in, and she died."

Barry almost choked on his own breath. If _that_ didn't escalate quickly.

"And then the man was cursed forever. He was bound to the Rose in her place, cursed to take care of it forever. To make sure that anybody did it no harm. But because of the horrible thing he did, it was forever known as the _Blood_ Rose after that." She finished, and Barry just sat and stared at the gemstone from where he sat. If that wasn't some heavy stuff, then he didn't know what was.

"Well that's... _Interesting_." He managed to huff out after a short while. "But it's just a legend."

The old lady hummed from where she sat next to him. "Maybe... Maybe not."

Barry was just about to reply when he heard Hartley's voice in his comms, yelling something incoherent about how the 'plan was in motion'.

Barry smirked as he stood up, waving a hand at his team.

"Sorry to spoil your afternoon like this." He said, voice loud and clear so that everybody in the room could hear him, his smirk growing from a mischievous one to a full-blown Cheshire grin.

"But I'm afraid we're... _Storming_ this museum."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really need to stop adding all of these unnecessary extra bits to this story. This is a literal extra chapter that I hadn't planned for. Seriously. I was going to write the heist and then some weird old lady arrived all of a sudden and before I knew it I was writing an origin story for the freaking Ruby they're stealing.
> 
> I mean I know they say that the characters write the story and the writer just tries to catch up, but this is some serious bullshit and I know it.
> 
> Well well... I'll post the next chapter real soon to make up for this filler... Tomorrow, hopefully - but it might be out the day after that. Remember that I'm going on vacation tomorrow, but I might be able to post the chapter either way. It's written but not edited, so.
> 
> Remember to tell me what you thought! My soul brightens by each and every comment~


	10. Ice Ice Baby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No flirting with the archnemesis, if you please.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enter Captain Cold! Plus the Rogues' meticulously planned heist is on the go, but does it go as planned...? We'll see~
> 
> I'm on my vacation now! :D
> 
> I'll see you guys in a week. ^^

The very second the pun had left Barry's lips thunder crackled.

Barry smirked at Mardon, who was all the way over on the other side of the large room. He was lifting his arms ever so slightly, almost as a quiet and rebellious gesture. It reminded Barry a little of "come and get me".

Soon there was a full-blown storm inside of the museum. A storm with rain, and wind and thunder -- making the civilians inside catch a frenzy as they panicked. 

Now that the plan was set in motion and people were running all over in wild panic, the rest of the Rogues went on with the plan. The security guards had their hands full, trying to tell the civilians to calm down and exit the facility in an orderly manner, but obviously they were all running around like crazy either way. Half of them were even running the wrong way. They probably hadn't even thought about leaving.

Barry and his team walked up to the Blood Rose, and Barry sent a hasty look towards where the old lady had just sat. But to his surprise, she was nowhere to be seen. He quickly shook the thought away and started barking out his orders.

"Shawna! Keep a lookout outside to see when the cops arrive by that window over there! Roy, just _hold on_ til they do, okay? No early whammy-ing this time or I _swear_ I'll murder you." The two nodded, and while Shawna zapped away to said window Roy just pouted where he stood by Barry. 

"Mark!" Barry yelled, trying to overpower the sound of the storm. "Keep it up, you're doing great!"

Mark just scoffed dryly from where he stood, surrounded by a storm and a sea of panicked civilians.

Barry then got to cracking open the encasement of the Rose. But it was proving to be a bit difficult, what with the loud noises from the storm and all the people. Barry found it a bit difficult to concentrate, but luckily for him, that was already taken care of. "Roy, hit the music." He smirked at the man, who was all jittery from not having anything to do.

Roy just nodded as a reply before making his way across the sea of people towards the bench where Mark had sat. Barry looked around the room whilst Roy was gone. More and more people were starting to leave the museum now, as they were being evacuated. But a lot of people were still desperately running around in fear, Barry couldn't help but to feel a little bad for them.

Soon Roy was back with what turned out to be an old iPod, attached to it was one of those dorky little speakers. This one was in the shape of a pink penguin. Barry scoffed as he pressed shuffle and turned the volume to max.

When the music started playing, filling the room with sounds of a familiar melody, he couldn't help but to grin widely, though. He'd have to tease Mark about his taste in music later, because _seriously?_ Listening to _Smooth Criminal_ whilst pulling a heist was just a bit too extra for Barry. But whatever, he found it pretty funny nonetheless. He continued on with breaking open the case as he listened to the music, singing along to the lyrics he knew.

_"You've been hit by, you've been struck by, a Smooth Criminal."_

The lock on this particular casing was a bit tricky. It wasn't a safe, to say, but it had a locking mechanism that was very similar. The glass was several inches thick, and not to mention bulletproof _and_ could withstand small explosions. Turns out the museum _really_ hadn't been willing to risk the Rose being an easy target. Barry smirked, he never went for the _easy_ targets either way.

***

Len's afternoon could've started better.

Really.

The start of his day had been pretty good, actually. It was Friday, so it was soon weekend, plus at Fridays, he and Barry sometimes went to get a drink after work, which was usually the _one_ time when Len felt that he didn't have to talk about work with him. It's not like he didn't _want_ to talk with Barry about other things that work or similar thing, it's just that he always felt like he _had to_ talk about work.

Plus Len wasn't really a social butterfly, or so to say, so he wasn't very good at talking with people. Barry was honestly one of the only people he felt comfortable enough with to let his walls down around.

Barry was a good friend. Maybe even Len's _best friend_ , if that was a thing that grown-up men had and not just preschoolers in pigtails and tutu skirts.

As the day progressed it continued on that 'good day' theme. The latest case he was on was going well, they'd caught the guy responsible of a double-homicide and he was en-route to Iron Heights as Len and Barry went to lunch. Len had proposed that they go back to that new Thai place, seeing as Barry had shown a great interest in their food, but Barry had declined it yet again. Which was a shame, because the food really _was_ good there. In stead, they'd gone to an Italian restaurant, which was nice too.

Lunch was good, and Len had enjoyed seeing Barry as happy as he'd been, eating a huge pizza with extra everything - not to mention he also ate most of Len's pizza, too. But Len was happy to share, he wasn't that hungry and it was definitely worth it seeing Barry's happy face when he told him he could get the rest of his pizza.

But then came the afternoon, and Barry had shut himself into his lab, saying how he had to go work on the cases that had piled up on his desk the past week and didn't want to be disturbed. Len had had to go sit by himself at his desk, working on the paperwork for that stupid double-homicide. When the afternoon coffee break closed in and Barry still had locked himself in his lab, Len sat by himself still.

He imagined he _could_ go talk with another officer, it's not like he didn't know anybody else in the station it's just... Most of these people were friends with Barry, and that was the only reason why Len ever spent any time with them. By himself, Len could be pretty... _Boring._

Len honestly thought about going to check on Barry upstairs. It wasn't healthy shutting himself in like that, and Len knew from personal experience that Barry _really_ needed his afternoon coffee to be able to function well enough to get his work done. At first, Len decided to not give his friend any reasons to get angry with him. Barry was a bit peculiar when it came to some things, and Len didn't want to get on his bad side. Barry could hold grudges like no man's business, and Len didn't feel like being treated to Barry's cold (hah!) shoulder and silent treatment again -- the last time was bad enough (how was Len supposed to know Barry wouldn't appreciate being set up on a blind date with Lisa? It's not like Barry had _told_ him he wasn't into women before that).

But as the afternoon became late he was actually starting to grow a bit worried for him. Had he _died_ in that lab or something? Maybe another lightning had struck him and he was unconscious in a sea of dangerous chemicals again? Not very likely, but whatever. It gave him a valid reason to check up on Barry, and that was honestly good enough for him, so.

But Len never made it all the way to Barry's lab, because soon he heard the Captain's voice call out from the Precinct downstairs.

"There's a meta-human attack at the Greenyard Bank on Sheperdstreet, witnesses say it's Piper-- let's get on it. West, take the rest of the meta-human task force and go."

"Okay, on it. What about Captain Cold?" Joe's voice replied, already waving to Thawne and Spivot to follow him.

Len could _hear_ the dry smile on the captain's lips as he replied. "I'm pretty sure he already knows."

***

The museum was now empty of people, save for some security guards that had been knocked out by Roy for interfering, and - of course - the Rogues, and the stormy weather created by Mark had mostly faded away, leaving the room to be filled only with the sound of Mark's hit at a Heist Playlist and Barry's attempts at breaking into the Rose's case.

He'd, since long, screwed away the keypad and was now meddling with the electric wiring. The keypad would automatically lock itself if the wrong code was entered more than three times, so speed-pressing every possible combination wouldn't help with this.

After a few minutes of meddling, however, the mechanism exploded in sparks and a loud beep indicated that the casing was now unlocked. Barry smirked victoriously as the Rogues all cheered from where they were scattered on different marks around the room. Barry whistled at Roy to come help him with the case, and the other man strutted over to assist Barry with carefully lifting off the lid to the case without having the alarm sound. 

And there it was, _The Blood Rose_. It sat on its black silk pillow, shining red and beautiful. Barry reached in one of his gloved hands and picked it up carefully, as if he was worried it might break under his touch. He traced the delicate details on the Rose with one of his fingers, wondering to himself what the Puppetmaster might actually _need_ this for.

It wasn't the typical item, namely. Sure that he sometimes asked Barry to steal something - _anything_ \- that was something slightly more normal for common thieves to steal. But he wouldn't tell him to steal anything _specific_ , just to steal something that was worth a lot of money. Barry usually stole precious gemstones when he got those missions, because he enjoyed those particular heists. The gemstones were pretty, and he got to earn a lot of green from it.

He _did_ need a lot of money to pay for his sudden increase in grocery shopping, after all.

But this was different. This time the Puppetmaster had _asked specifically_ for Barry to steal _this_ gemstone. _The Blood Rose._

Barry decided to not think too much about that now, and spared the Rose one last glance before dropping it down a small sack and handing it over to Roy. "Guard this with your life." He said seriously, eyeing his teammate before shooing him away with the loot.

"Update, Shawna?" He then asked, voice raised so that he could overpower the noise of _Gangsta's Paradise_ blasting through the room on max volume. Mark had really grasped this whole Heist Playlist thing, huh?

"I can see the coppers coming 'round the corner of the street. They'll be here in two." She replied from where she was stood by the window and Barry nodded at her.

"Good, it's all going according to plan. They must've gotten past Hart and Abra, then."

"What's next?" Shawna asked, mostly rhetorical.

"You take Mark and get as far away from here as possible, then you come back within five minutes and take Roy with you. Roy, hand her the Rose to be on the safe side." Shawna nodded at Barry, and Roy eyed him suspiciously before nodding too and handing the tiny sack with the gemstone to Shawna.

"I trust you know what you're doing, Red?" He asked.

"You know me, Raider, I _always_ know what I'm doing." Barry smirked at him.

Roy huffed, a smile on his face too. "Yeah, well, sometimes it seems like what you know is that you're winging it, but whatever. You're the man with the plan."

And with a nod at Shawna, she grabbed Mark by the arm with one hand and the Rose with the other and was suddenly outside of the museum - on the opposite side that the police would soon be arriving. She continued to zap forward with Mark and the Rose, little by little until they were by the getaway car where Mick was waiting.

"Shawna," he nodded his head as if to say hi. "-- Crazy-eyes. We a-go?" He continued, a squint at Mark as he spoke.

Shawna nodded at him. "I'll leave Mardon right here, I'm going to fetch Roy and then we're leaving, 'kay?"

"What about Red?"

"He's gonna distract Captain Cold while we get away, you remember your part?" She asked, and Mick nodded at her. 

She smiled as she let Mark go, handing him the Rose. "I'll be off then, you two behave while I'm gone, yeah?"

Back at the museum, the police were soon coming, Barry and Roy could hear the sirens nearing and sent each other a look. 

"Where do you reckon Cold is?" Roy asked, mostly to shut out the incoming sirens.

Barry hummed before replying. "He's probably done with Hartley now, and should be arriving here in just a few minutes."

"And Piper?"

Barry didn't reply at first, worried about the fact that Hartley hadn't contacted him yet. "I'm sure he's fine."

The sound of cars pulling into a stop just outside of the museum, tires screeching from the high speed the cars had been traveling in grasped both of the men's attention and Barry sent Roy a mischievous smirk before speaking.

"Guess this is your queue, then, Roy... Do your thing."

***

Reming Len again why the hell he decided to become a superhero? Because as it was now, when he was barely avoiding smoke bombs thrown left and right by Abra Kadabra whilst his ears were still ringing from being attacked by Pied Piper earlier when he'd gone to stop him, he really started to regret his decision.

Maybe he should just go and join the Rogues? They seemed to have a lot of fun. Maybe a little _too_ much fun, actually. He was _certain_ that they were behind this little... _Predicament_ that Len had found himself in. The only thing that made it bearable was that he was probably soon going to get to see the Flash's face when he found out he'd stopped one of his little buddies.

Now _that_ was something he was looking forward to.

Len wasn't sure what kind of -- he didn't really want to call it a _relationship_ , but -- _thing_ he and the speedster had going on, but he knew that he'd probably always enjoy getting those surprised faces out of the other man. The way that his lips curled downwards from his usual mischievous smirk whenever he was taken by surprise or his plans were foiled never seized to make Len's day hundred times better.

Maybe he was a bit of a sadist, enjoying someone else's misfortune as much as he enjoyed the Flash's?

But then again, the way the Flash liked to toy with Len, he certainly deserved a little misfortune. Or a lot. Len hadn't decided yet, it depended on whatever the hell the speedster had decided that he just _had_ to steal this time around. Whatever it was, it was at the museum - Len _knew_ that for a fact. Why else would he have broken in there a few nights ago?

And if it truly was at the museum, Len knew what the Flash had set his hazel eyes upon...

_The Blood Rose._

A precious, priceless Ruby that was just up the Flash's lane. It _had_ to be the target. And, as it turns out, it _was_. He'd just heard that there was a situation at the museum, apparently _Weather Wizard_ out of all people had decided that today was the perfect day for some indoor waterworks. Since when was _he_ a part of the Rogues? The museum had, according to a source, been evacuated and by now the Rogues had probably already gotten their dirty hands on the ruby.

Len sighed as he avoided another trap set by Abra. There had to be _some_ way to get out of this? He carefully constructed a thorough plan in his head on how he was supposed to get to the museum. He just had to use his ice powers to get Abra's hands unusable... For that to happen he would have to distract the man, maybe by purposefully walking into one of his traps? Abra was pretty high on attention, so he'd definitely waltz over and start bad-guy monologuing if Len _did_ fall for one of his traps. Maybe he could--

And just as he was about to put the finishing touch to his plan, he was interrupted by a large sound - like an explosion - and a bright flash. When his eyes had finally settled down after that blinding moment, Abra was gone. Len gritted his teeth as he realized that this step of the Rogues' plan was done, they would get away with the Rose like this.

But he didn't have any time for regrets, so he quickly got on hi bike again and drove - way over the speed limit, but if anybody was allowed to break the law every now and then it was him - to the museum. He had a meeting with the Flash to attend to, after all.

***

Barry grinned widely as he looked at the scene in front of him, over the last few months Barry had made sure that Roy was training. Ever since he joined the Rogues last year he'd only ever used his powers to induce rage, but Cisco had reasoned that it was very likely that he could, in fact, induce other emotions in others.

Barry found this a way too good opportunity to pass up on. And so he had set Roy on training with the rest of Team Flash - Cisco's name, not his - until he could successfully induce three more emotions in people. When Barry had been shown Roy's brand new powers, he'd been so happy that he had actually reached out and hugged the man. Which actually wasn't as awkward as he'd thought it'd be, but they still never talked about it and if anybody ever brought it up they'd both furiously deny it.

They were criminals, for god's sake, there was no going soft and hugging each other. However much they thought of each other as 'friends'.

Roy could now not only induce rage, but also fear, sadness and the one he was using right now...

\-- _Calm_.

All around them were the police officers, standing calm and confused, just _looking_ at the two thieves where they stood - grinning widely both of them.

"See, told you you could do it." Barry mused, not lifting his look from the dazed officers. He could see both Joe and Eddie, even Patty, and a lot of other random officers who he'd never even been officially been introduced to. 

Roy nodded. "Yeah, you did. But I'm not giving you all the credit, those buddies of yours at STAR Labs really helped me with the powers."

Barry hummed at this. "Yeah, speaking of which -- Cisco?" He asked, putting a hand over the ear with his comm to STAR Labs as he spoke.

"Yeah, man?" Came Cisco's voice lazily from the other side of the line, and Barry could've _sworn_ he was chewing on something.

"Get ready to activate the therma-threading in case I get iced, stay on the comms."

"You got it, big guy. You go kick his ass, hey do you want me to save you some Chinese food 'til when you get back?"

Barry scoffed. "Yeah, sure, sounds great. Is Caitlin there?"

A shuffling sound on the other end and then a light voice replying answered his question. "I'm here... You aren't hurt already, are you?" She asked, voice suspicious and slightly disappointed.

"No! No, just... You know, preparing for the worst."

"Well, just don't prepare too much or it'll actually happen." She huffed just as a whoosh of air sounded and Barry looked up to see Shawna standing ahead.

"Gotta go, fam, see you in a bit." Barry quickly said.

"Don't get arrested!" Came their usual reply, voices laced with humor and not worry. He scoffed at them.

"Wouldn't dream of it."

Shawna looked around the room, seeing the dazed police officers. "I gather your training went well, then, Roy?" She asked, and he nodded smugly as she grabbed onto his arm and in a _flash_ (hah!) they were gone.

They made their way, little by little just as last time, toward where Mark and Mick were waiting in their getaway car. Said two men looked up at the pair when they materialized inside the car.

"Mick!" Shawna said as she let go of Roy's arm, him having a slight green hue to his face. He never _did_ get used to that.

Mick turned from where he sat, looking at her as she continued. "You're up."

***

When Len finally arrived at the museum he was awe-struck at the sight. The whole place was _filled_ with policemen -- _but none of them were doing anything._ They were just _standing_ there! All of them having their normal eye color changed to purple, it didn't take long for Len to realize what had happened to them. There was something else off with the scene, as well. But Len couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was. A sudden rustling brought his attention away from his thoughts, however, over to the man standing to the side of the room, all clad in red.

"Flash." He mused. "I take it Raider has learned a few new _tricks_."

The speedster chuckled. "If you only knew."

Len shrugged, his trademark parka rustling at the movement. "Maybe you could tell me?" A smile tugging on his lips.

The Flash hummed, putting a finger to his mouth as if he was actually considering it before replying. "Nah, I think I'll pass."

Len scoffed. "Didn't think you would." He glanced behind the Flash to where he knew the Rose was supposed to be. "I see you got what you came for."

The Flash's grin grew wider, and that's when Len realized what was off. "Where's the music?" Len asked, and the Flash quirked an eyebrow at him.

"What, you miss it?" He asked with an amused glint in his hazel eyes.

Len huffed. "Don't be ridiculous, I'm merely noting the lack of its presence."

"Uh-huh, old man, let's say so." The Flash smirked, and then he turned his back towards the hero, strutting up to where the iPod was laying and pressing shuffle once again. At first, nothing happened, and the silence that followed when the speedster walked back to where he had been standing was awkward.

Then the music started, playing a tune that was familiar and - to people who didn't know any better - sounded like Under Pressure. But it wasn't, and that the speedster knew.

Len didn't, however, so when the lyrics came on, Len couldn't help but to snap his head towards the source of the sound. "What on earth--" He huffed, and the Flash smirked.

 _"Ice Ice Baby"_ The music echoed helpfully, and both of them stopped in their tracks to send the iPod by the now empty Blood Rose exhibit a look. Len quirked an eyebrow at the speedster.

"Well, this is embarrassing." The Flash smirked, yet in contrary to his words he looked more amused and somewhat pleased.

"You mean to tell me, Flash, that you listen to that cringeworthy stuff?" Len huffed, the music flowing through the room, an unbelieving smile on his face.

"Actually, Weather Wizard does - but something tells me he planned this. He packed the list full to the brim with ice themed songs, he had _Cold As Ice_ by Foreigner and _Let It Go_ on there, as well."

Len actually winced at the prospect of one of the speedster's rogues planning for this particular event. They truly were a weird bunch. "Very humorous." He drawled, but his face told a different story.

The Flash scoffed. "Well, wouldn't you be one to know, Cold? I've heard from your friends at the CCPD that you're quite humorous yourself."

Len's face fell at his nemesis' words. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, I've just heard the rumors that you work for them... Seems they're correct; you didn't deny it."

"No need to deny the obvious, in all technicality I do - I catch nearly all of their criminals." Len said, trying to save his secret identity - but failing.

"Oh no, old man, there's no way out of this."

Something about that phrase nagged at Len, but he couldn't pinpoint what exactly. "No? That's too bad. Guess you'll just have to use up all of your energy trying to figure out who of the lot I am."

The speedster laughed. "I don't plan on finding out who you are, Cold."

Len squinted his eyes at the man in front of him, drawing out his power of ice to his hands, getting ready for an altercation. "No?"

The Flash shook his head no. "No... Because _I already know who you are _."__

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you catch that? We got some of the Len-centered pov that I've been talking about for ages but had yet to deliver. Since this is the first of "his" chapters, we have some Barry-centered scenes as well, to make the shift less evident. Plus it'd be strange to wait to explain the heist until Len showed up to tell it... ^^;
> 
> Do note that whenever there is a scene where Barry is the Flash among people who _know_ who he is, he's still called "Barry", as is he when it's "his" pov. But when it's "Len's" pov he's called "the speedster" or "the Flash". This is intentional.
> 
> This was my longest chapter so far! It was actually supposed to be cut in two, but I decided against it. This one is over 4000 words! The next chapter will take a little longer to get out, because of it - hope y'all survive either way. c;
> 
> Oh, and the music thing. I just love it. Am I allowed to love my own idea, or is that a little self-gratuitous? Eh, let's say I am allowed. _I_ think it's funny.
> 
> Anywho! Tell me what you thought about this chapter! I'm always happy to answer any and all questions you may have, and comments truly make my day~


	11. You seriously need to Chill

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Captain Cold kicks some scarlet ass

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back from vacation now! I managed to get a concussion while there, though (note to self: look out for branches falling from the sky during storms from now on), so if you find anything that's truly weird in this chapter it's probably because of my pain meds. ^^;
> 
> I'm fine, though, I just have a headache -- so you don't have to worry or anything, my doctor had my head x-rayed and it's all a-ok apparently. c:
> 
> Sorry about the late update, but I was out of commission for a few days after getting back (AKA: I was completely and utterly out of my mind and slept 19/24 hours a day).

There were a lot of things that Len feared. Clowns, for starters - not that he was ever going to admit to that, but whatever - he also feared the usual things; death, loneliness...

But the one thing he feared above all was someone finding out his secret identity. He'd been pretty good at hiding it, he thought. Sure that Barry had found out, but it's difficult hiding things from him. He couldn't _lie_ to Barry, that'd be counterproductive. So obviously, when Barry had confronted him about it, he'd told it as it was.

He's Captain Cold.

And Barry had accepted that. Barry didn't _know_ Captain Cold. Didn't know about the things he'd done under that name. Usually, those kinds of things didn't get out to the public, and if they did they were blamed on whatever meta the hero had been fighting against.

But Len knew. And the Flash did too. They both knew what Len had done, the people he'd hurt. Sure, they were all _accidents_ , but what did that matter? They still _died_ , or were seriously hurt. Len could live with that. He lived with that every day.

But Len didn't want the people he cared about in his life to find out. He didn't want Barry, or his sister, or any other people he cared for to know his other side. The side of him that he sometimes became when he was Captain Cold.

And now the Flash claimed he knew who Len truly was. His _real name_.

Len didn't know what to do. So he didn't do anything. He just stared at the speedster through his tinted goggles in surprise -- and _fear_.

"Cat got your tongue?" The Flash mused, eyebrow quirked playfully at him.

"I don't believe you."

The Flash chuckled, a dark and amused laugh and with a sardonic curl on his lips. "You really should, you know..." The Flash inhaled deeply, turning his head to the side as if he was contemplating something. "I saw you at the museum the other day... With that detective."

Len's breath got caught in his throat, taking a note to the tone of the speedster's voice. He _knew_. He _actually knew_. "What do you want...?" Len asked, voice barely above a whisper.

The Flash shrugged, his face showing no signs of his emotions. "Nothing."

Now _this_ Len found hard to believe, there _was_ something about the super villain's tone that bothered Len. Something about how this whole conversation had played out that made Len feel like the Flash wasn't telling the whole truth. " _Nothing?!_ "

"Nothing."

"Why are you telling me this, then?" Len asked, still not convinced.

"I wanted to know I was right."

Len scoffed. "This is just peachy, ain't it?" He huffed, more to himself than to the other man.

"I'm not planning on telling anybody."

Len scoffed again, a disbelieving puff of air as he looked around the room, flailing his arms slightly in frustration before turning back to the speedster. "And why the hell not?"

The Flash smiled, a somewhat pleasant curl this time - reassuring. "It's not my secret to tell." He said, a faint shrug of his shoulders. "All I ask is that when - and I say _when_ , not if - you find out _my_ secret identity... Think twice before telling it to the world... _Please._ "

Len huffed in disbelief. " _Please?!_ , you think I'm close, do you?"

"I have... Reliable sources that tell me you're looking into it. And I'd prefer some reassurance." The Flash replied, and he looked almost sad as he met Len's gaze. "That's all I'm asking. Could you do that?"

Len sighed. "Think twice? Sure, I don't care."

The Flash smiled, gently and relieved before taking a deep breath through his nose. "Well then, Mr. Allen, should we get going?" And at that, the speedster was suddenly charging towards Len - lightning fast and with a yellow trail of sparks after him.

Len had hardly even registered that the Flash was moving before he was hit with enough force to make him fly backward. And he _definately_ didn't have time to wonder why the hell the Flash was calling him _Allen_ out of all the names on earth to call him. Lying on the floor, though, he realized...

The Flash thought _Barry_ was Captain Cold, not Len.

Len almost scoffed, though he managed to keep it in. _Barry_ , really?! Now _that_ was a funny thought. As if Barry would ever be able to keep a secret identity from anybody. If Barry had a secret identity, it'd probably be known by the whole of Central City within the first twenty-four hours.

However the hell the Flash had come to the conclusion that it was _Barry_ who was Captain Cold and not him, Len wasn't sure, but he really had to set up a meeting with Barry and make sure he was alright. He didn't want Barry to get into trouble because of _his_ secret identity. If Barry was hurt because Len was Captain Cold, then Len would never forgive himself.

"Get up and fight, Cold!" The Flash taunted, tired of Len's lengthy reminiscing on the museum floor, but Len knew for a fact that the speedster had been holding back on that last punch. The Flash never hurt people, not much at least. And this time around it was painfully obvious that his goal with this was to make sure his little buddies got away with the ruby, and not to get away himself. If the Flash _wanted_ to get away, he would already be gone.

No, the Flash was distracting Len from going after the rest of the Rogues. And Len felt like he'd just _let him_. Why not? He'd always enjoyed a good fight. Plus, his scarlet nemesis had a tendency to get a bit overly cocky during these kinds of disputes, which meant that Len had an actual shot at getting him this time around, which was especially important now that he (kinda) knew Len's identity.

Len did not have to be told twice. So he rose from the floor, feeling the cold making its way from his core to his hands, ice crystals dancing on his skin. He suppressed a shiver as the ice on his body evaporated in the heat of the room, creating an icy mist. _Perfect_.

"Your powers are as freaky as ever, Frosty." The Flash huffed, shivering as the temperature suddenly dropped several degrees in a matter of seconds.

"Likewise." Len mused, studying the speedster closely, who was currently vibrating his whole body to stay warm.

"Maybe that's why we get along so well~" The Flash purred, voice sugary-sweet as he started circling the room slowly, and Len just scoffed, mirroring his movements.

"What, because we're both freaks?"

The Flash hummed at that. "Because we're both _cool_." The Flash said, and charged for his nemesis again, but this time Len was ready for it. In a second his arms were up, shooting a clear white light at the speedster.

He flinched at the sound that the other man made when the white flame hit him square in the chest. He knew how painful it was, but the speedster was quickly on his feet again, clutching his chest in pain, a thin layer of ice encased the yellow-and-white lightning emblem on it.

"That's all you got? Tchh... I'm disappointed..." The speedster huffed out, but it was clear to Len that he was in pain.

"If you surrender now, I promise I won't make you into a human popsicle."

The Flash scoffed, his lips curled into a sardonic Cheshire grin. "I'm just getting started~"

And at that, he was off again - speeding up to where Len was and sending him a good punch to the jaw. Len gritted his teeth at the pain, thinking about sending some ice to make the floor into the worlds weirdest skating rink. He then immediately decided against that when he realized that if the Flash slipped, he might end up crashing into one of the exhibits.

_That_ would not be a good thing.

The fight continued on, Len firing some ice at the speedster and him reciprocating with some speedy punches. But he was getting slower by every shot, Len could see it, and the speedster became more and more desperate the more time went by.

Len could've sworn he was waiting for something. He fired again, hitting the Flash as he ran forward - undoubtedly to give Len another punch - in such a manner that the speedster fell to the floor with a pained shriek.

Len took the chance and fired again, trying not to think about the noises of pain the other man was letting out. He knew for a fact that the Flash healed quickly, he'd told him so himself, so he told himself that this was alright.

That he wasn't hurting the speedster badly. He felt like he was lying to himself. He hated having to do this to a person, more so now that he was doing it under _Barry's_ name.

Soon the speedster stopped struggling, stopped screaming, and Len seized to shoot ice at him. The Flash was iced to the floor, breathing heavily -- _defeated_.

Len squinted his eyes at the man on the floor, _knowing_ that he had been holding back. Why had the speedster been holding back? He'd been doing this for a while now, not using the full extent of his powers. At some point in these last few months, the speedster had softened his punches, slowed down his attacks so that they could be easily avoided and just...

Just gone _soft_ , really. Like he was trying to _not_ hurt Len. Like he was _worried_.

Len found that very weird.

"I got you this time, Flash." He sighed, exhausted and in pain as he knelt down by the cowl-clad man. "And now I get to see your face."

The speedster hitched a breath in his throat at Len's word, a glint of _fear_ in his eyes. _Hazel._

Len felt like he _knew_ those eyes from somewhere. But then again, he'd seen them before - on the Flash. Maybe that's why...

Len wasn't convinced, though. And just as he was about to strip his nemesis of the mask, a loud crashing noise from behind stopped him. Len quickly rose to his feet, turning around to see what the hell was going on.

_Oh, shit._

Standing by the - now broken - window, was no other than Heatwave. The Flash's infamous arsonist buddy, who was also known for being a little - how do I put this kindly - crazy.

"Flash!" Heatwave yelled from behind his goggles - presumably there to hide his identity (not like that mattered, the whole damn city knew that the Heatwave was Mick Rory), and also protect his eyes from the fire he was undoubtedly here to start.

"Mick..." The Flash exclaimed softly from where he lay, his pained voice stinging in Len's ears. He never liked to hurt people.

When Rory heard the Flash's voice, the controlled fire in his eyes blossomed into a fiery inferno of anger, one that was painfully obvious even from the other side of the goggles. Apparently he _really_ didn't take lightly on people hurting his friends. Before Len could even jump out of the way, Rory had raised a hand and sent burning hot flames towards him. The flames licked at his skin, and Len tried his best to set the flames out with his ice-turned-to-water.

Heatwave wasn't that interested in burning Len alive, though, it seemed. Because the very moment Len was out of the way, trying to not get set on fire, he was kneeling down next to the Flash after having sent some flames towards the - still whammied - officers. Len apparently needed something to do while Rory took care of his friend. Len watched as the large man carefully lay his hands on the frozen solid casing of ice on the speedster's body, and created some heat from his hands. Soon the ice was melting and the speedster's lips went from that frightening blue color to a healthy pink.

"Now, what the hell would you have done without me?" Rory gruffed at his accomplice, and the Flash laughed. A _real_ laugh, of happiness. Len felt he'd heard it somewhere else before, even if the voice was disguised.

"I'd be dead, probably. Or at the very least arrested, a _long_ time ago." The Flash replied, and Rory sent Len yet another wave of flames as he helped the Flash up on his feet.

"Damn straight." He said, humor in his voice.

The Flash sent a look at Len - who was currently smothering some more flames who was getting dangerously close to the whammied detective Thawne - a playful smirk on the speedster's lips. "I wouldn't say _straight_ , exactly, but..."

"Still flirting with the guy? I seriously don't get you sometimes, Red." Rory huffed, voice as low as he could probably get it, so Len wasn't sure if it was meant for him to hear.

"Yeah, yeah. Let's get out of here." The Flash scoffed before turning to Len - who had just let out the last of the flames - with a smile. "See you later, Cold~" And at that, both of the cons were gone in a golden flash of light.

Len sighed and sunk to his knees on the floor, slightly in pain from being over-heated and burnt, and exhausted. The Flash had, once again, managed to outsmart him. _Of course_ this had been the Flash's plan all along, it seemed almost fitting! Make _Len_ the overly confident one, the one that thought he had it in the bag... And then attack him when he least expects it.

It was a truly genius plan. _Pretend_ to get beaten by him. That sounds about right, coming from the Flash. Sounds like something he would do.

Len sighed again, standing up on shaky legs to leave before the police came to it and could ask him any questions. 

He massaged his temple as he thought about the fact that he'd be called back here in just the matter of minutes to work the crime scene. Well well, at least he'd get to see Barry soon.

That's always something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have this bad habit where I already have the chapter all planned out, and then I just suddenly _add_ a whole other scene to it that wasn't even planned, and I just have to roll with it... The first scene, Barry's "knowing Len's identity" thing was like that and I-
> 
> Where am I even going with that? I don't even know. Well, I do, actually. But whatever.
> 
> And _then_ , after I posted the last chapter I suddenly decided that Barry had some stupid ploy going on. So for some stupid reason, he made sure that Len thought that the Flash thought that Barry is Captain Cold. Why? I don't even know. Suddenly all of my planning has been thrown out the window, and I'm left to try and scrape up the leftovers and make a modified plan... 
> 
> Why do I keep doing this to myself? It's giving me more of a headache than my concussion is already giving me (note to self: be more careful next vacation).
> 
> Updates won't be as regular as they were before my vacay, seeing as school starts this Monday for me. I'm still hopeful about the weekly updates, though, but I wouldn't put _too_ much faith into it. ^^;
> 
> Urgh, fight scenes are _difficult_. Why did I ever decide that fight scenes would be a good idea? Stupid.
> 
> Remember to say what you thought about this chapter~ And I'll see you next update! ^^


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